Raphael Stevens

Mortgage rates dropped for the second week in a row, but that didn’t revive demand from homeowners or potential buyers.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances decreased to 5.74% from 5.84%

People wait to visit a house for sale in Floral Park, Nassau County, New York.
Wang Ying | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

Mortgage rates dropped for the second week in a row, but that didn’t revive demand from homeowners or potential buyers.
Rates fell 10 basis points last week and have declined 24 basis points in the last two weeks, but total mortgage demand dropped 5.4% from one week ago, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. This week’s results include a holiday adjustment to account for early closings the Friday before Independence Day.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) fell to 5.74% from 5.84%, with points increasing to 0.65 from 0.64, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment.
“Mortgage rates decreased for the second week in a row, as growing concerns over an economic slowdown and increased recessionary risks kept Treasury yields lower,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting.
Those concerns showed up in applications to refinance a home loan, which dropped 8% for the week and were down 78% from the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 29.6% of total applications from 30.3% the previous week.
Home purchase applications also fell for the week and the year – down 4% and 17%, respectively.
“Rates are still significantly higher than they were a year ago, which is why applications for home purchases and refinances remain depressed. Purchase activity is hamstrung by ongoing affordability challenges and low inventory,” said Kan.

Realtor.com published its June housing report last week which showed for-sale inventory recovering, climbing at its fastest yearly pace of all time, up 18.7% year over year. However, there are still 53.2% fewer homes for sale compared with June 2019.
“Our June data shows the inventory recovery accelerated, posting the second straight month of active listings growth in nearly three years. We expect these improvements to continue,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, but she added, “The typical buyer has yet to see meaningful relief from quickly selling homes and record-high asking prices.”
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the average home purchase loan size is $405,200, which is down from $413,500 for the week ended June 24.

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Northvolt’s announcement comes at a time when European economies are laying out plans to move away from vehicles that use diesel and gasoline.
As the number of electric vehicles on our roads increases, the competition to develop factories capable of manufacturing EV batteries at scale is intensifying.
Northvolt recently said its first gigafactory, Northvolt Ett, had started commercial deliveries to European customers.

Northvolt’s most recent funding announcement comes at a time when major economies are laying out plans to move away from vehicles that use diesel and gasoline.
Mikael Sjoberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Electric vehicle battery maker Northvolt on Tuesday announced a $1.1 billion funding boost, with a range of investors — including Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs Asset Management — taking part in the capital raise.
In a statement, Sweden-based Northvolt said the $1.1 billion convertible note would be used to finance the company’s “expansion of battery cell and cathode material production in Europe to support the rapidly expanding demand for batteries.”

Other investors in the raise include Baillie Gifford, Swedbank Robur, PCS Holding and TM Capital.
Northvolt recently said its first gigafactory, Northvolt Ett, had started commercial deliveries to European customers. The firm says it has orders amounting to $55 billion from businesses such as Volvo Cars, BMW, and Volkswagen.
Gigafactories are facilities that produce batteries for electric vehicles on a large scale. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been widely credited as coining the term.

Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

Northvolt’s most recent funding announcement comes at a time when major European economies are laying out plans to move away from road-based vehicles that use diesel and gasoline.
The U.K., for instance, wants to stop the sale of new diesel and gasoline cars and vans by 2030. It will require, from 2035, all new cars and vans to have zero-tailpipe emissions. The European Union — which the U.K. left on Jan. 31, 2020 — is pursuing similar targets.

As the number of electric vehicles on our roads increases, the competition to develop factories capable of manufacturing EV batteries at scale is intensifying, with companies like Tesla and VW looking to establish a foothold in the sector.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Northvolt’s CEO and co-founder, Peter Carlsson — who previously worked for Tesla — was bullish about the future. 
“The combination of political decision making, customers committing even more firmly to the transition to electric vehicles, and a very rapid rise in consumer demand for cleaner products, has created a perfect storm for electrification,” he said.
According to the International Energy Agency, electric vehicle sales hit 6.6 million in 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, EV sales came to 2 million, a 75% increase compared to the first three months of 2021. More

Sales contracts for Manhattan apartments plunged by nearly a third in June as the city’s scorching real-estate market started to cool.
“The gradually slowing sales market manifests in all boroughs and at all price points throughout the city,” one industry figure said.
Prices haven’t started falling yet — at least not broadly. But brokers say buyer attendance at open houses and multiple bids have all but evaporated.

FUTURE LIGHT | Photodisc | Getty Images

Sales contracts for Manhattan apartments plunged by nearly a third in June as the city’s scorching real-estate market started to cool amid recession fears and declining stocks.
New York real estate was on a tear through the early spring, with high prices and strong sales. The median sales price for the second quarter rose to a record $1.25 million, according to data from the firms Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman. The number of sales — at over 3,800 — was the highest total for the second quarter since the housing boom of 2007.

Yet most of those deals were negotiated in the early part of the year. Brokers and real estate analysts say the Manhattan market took a sharp turn downward in June, as stocks and crypto declined, interest rates rose and economists started discussing the potential for recession.
Sales contracts for co-ops and condos in Manhattan fell 30% in the quarter compared to June 2021, according to Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman.
“Throughout the second quarter, that slowdown has accelerated: fewer signed contracts, fewer bidding wars, more price reductions, and a gradual increase in available inventory,” Coldwell Banker President Frederick Warburg Peters wrote in a market report. “The gradually slowing sales market manifests in all boroughs and at all price points throughout the city.”
Manhattan’s decline is especially sudden given that the market is skewed toward higher-end, wealthier buyers who are less dependent on mortgages and rising rates. In the second quarter, 53% of all apartment purchases in Manhattan were cash. At the high end it’s even higher — 99.6% of purchases above $4 million were cash, according to Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel.
Brokers say wealthier buyers in Manhattan are more spooked by the stock-market declines and crypto losses than higher mortgage rates. Added to that are continued concerns about New York’s crime and high taxes.

“This is a market in transition,” said Bess Freedman, CEO of Brown Harris Stevens. “Buyers are in the driver’s seat right now. There is just a lot of uncertainty and weaker confidence.”
Prices haven’t started falling yet — at least not broadly. But brokers say buyer attendance at open houses and multiple bids have all but evaporated. McKenzie Ryan, a top New York broker with Douglas Elliman, said one of her clients is a Manhattan family that had a baby and was looking for more space with a budget of around $4 million.
“They just decided to fully stop their search,” Ryan said. “They still need the space, but interest rates and economic fears are pushing people to pause.”
Buyers aren’t showing up for open houses or showings as they were even in April. She said she had a listing that month that attracted 31 people to the open house. When she held an open house for a similar listing and similar price point in June, only four people showed up.
Along with buyers in finance worried about financial markets, workers and executives in tech and venture capital in Manhattan are also pulling back on real estate, fearing layoffs and cost cuts.
“My clients in tech are just bracing right now for whatever happens,” Ryan said. “Some people have seen a steep loss in wealth since the start of the year.” Ryan said that when sellers are now pricing their listings, they can’t use comparable prices from earlier in the year. She said some are marking them down up to 10% from early 2022 comparables, but it all depends on the apartment.
“There is just not enough data on the market right now,” she said. “It’s just moving and changing so fast.”

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It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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Oasis Petroleum Inc: “Everybody hates oil so much, we’ve got to do more work. But I like the idea in principle.”

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Cloudflare Inc: “I don’t like companies that aren’t making money, but I think [CEO] Matthew Prince should come on the show because they are doing so well.”

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MP Materials Corp: “It has been a good stock to buy in the $20s and it’s almost there. May I suggest you do that.”

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Dow Inc: “I think you buy it in the $40s.”

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SoFi Technologies: “I do not understand it. It’s at $5. That makes no sense to me. … That said, I have no catalyst to recommend the stock.”

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Danaos Corp: “I can’t recommend this stock.”
Disclosure: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Disney and Morgan Stanley.

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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday told investors his three stock picks from the worst- and best-performing stocks in the Nasdaq 100 during the first half of this year.
“Tech’s become absolutely hated, maybe so hated that I think we could see a serious bounce,” he said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday told investors his three stock picks from the worst- and best-performing stocks in the Nasdaq 100 during the first half of this year.
“Tech stocks were horrendous in the first half. … No Apples, no Googles, no semis, no software as services – just default names that show you that tech’s become absolutely hated, maybe so hated that I think we could see a serious bounce,” he said.

“When it comes to tech, FANG went into a portfolio manager-induced coma in the first half and Netflix was the first to be put under. What else is there to say, except that if any stock has fallen hard enough … then there’s certainly hope for a resuscitation,” he added, referring to his acronym for Facebook-parent Meta, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet.
To illustrate his point, the “Mad Money” host listed the five worst and five best performers in the Nasdaq 100. 
Out of the 10 names, he highlighted two stocks as potential buys.
Here is his list of the top five best performers in the Nasdaq 100:

Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Activision Blizzard
T-Mobile
Constellation Energy
Seagen

Out of these names, Cramer said that he thinks investors should buy shares of Seagen, especially given speculation that Merck could make a bid for the biotech company, according to The Wall Street Journal.

T-Mobile is also a buy, he said, predicting that the company will have a great performance in its next quarter.
Next, Cramer went over the five worst performers in the Nasdaq 100. 
Here is his list:

Netflix
Align Technology
PayPal
DocuSign
Okta

Cramer said that he believes Align is attractive at its current price. “I think it can make a slow and steady comeback,” he said.
Disclosure: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Alphabet, Amazon and Meta.
Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer’s every move in the market.
Disclaimer

Questions for Cramer?Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up!Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – Instagram
Questions, comments, suggestions for the “Mad Money” website? [email protected]

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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday offered investors his stock picks from the best- and worst-performing stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average during the first half of the year.
Companies in the Dow “tend to be boring, mature companies that typically pay nice dividends, which is what protects you when the Fed is tightening,” the “Mad Money” host said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday offered investors his stock picks from the best- and worst-performing stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average during the first half of the year.
Companies in the Dow “tend to be boring, mature companies that typically pay nice dividends, which is what protects you when the Fed is tightening,” the “Mad Money” host said.

“I know this is a tough market, but I’m betting the second half turns out better than the first for the worst performers and be OK for the best performers,” he added.
Here is his list of the five worst-performing names in the Dow — all of which Cramer believes investors should be eyeing.

Disney: Cramer said he is optimistic about the stock’s future.
Nike: He said that he believes investors should start building a position in the stock now.
Salesforce: Investors should snap up shares of Salesforce before its Dreamforce conference this fall, where the company conducts “a ton of business,” he said.
Home Depot: Cramer said that he believes the stock has a compelling long-term story, but investors might be able to get a better price for the stock later down the line.
Cisco Systems: The stock looks tempting at its current price, which means the Charitable Trust is going to hold on to its shares of the company, according to Cramer.

Next, here is his list of the top five best-performing names in the Dow, with explanations for the stocks he gave investors his blessing to buy:

Chevron
Merck: Cramer said the company is recession-proof, reports consistent earnings and has “juicy” dividends, which makes its stock worthy of investors’ cash — unless rates continue to go down.
Amgen
Travelers
Coca-Cola: The company has a bright future ahead of it now that its supply chain costs are coming down, Cramer said.

Disclosure: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Chevron, Cisco, Disney and Salesforce.
Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer’s every move in the market.

Disclaimer

Questions for Cramer?Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up!Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – Instagram
Questions, comments, suggestions for the “Mad Money” website? [email protected]

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