Good morning. Today is National Smile Day, National Autonomous Vehicle Day, and National Macaroon Day. Which means anyone beaming from ear-to-ear while simultaneously riding in a Waymo taxi and eating a tiny Italian cookie is doing things right.

Or as we call it – just another Friday.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.68-minute read (1,247 words).

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"No one has ever become poor by giving."

–Anne Frank (1929-1945)

Fewer Americans are planning to buy a home this summer compared to previous years, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors. The NAR’s pending home sales index fell to a four-year low in April, as higher mortgage rates applied negative pressure to home sales.

Why it matters: The pending-sales index is used to predict the volume of completed home sales in the near future, as houses typically go under contract a month or two before they’re officially sold. And since the index is based on signed contracts, it shows how buyers are reacting to mortgage rates in real time.

• In April, the US saw a sharp increase in average 30-year fixed mortgage rates, which rose from 6.9% to 7.5% – causing many would-be homebuyers to pull back from the market.

A slow market is getting even slower

A growing number of signs indicate the US housing market will cool off in the near future, despite already experiencing historically low sales activity in recent years.

The NAR’s pending home sales index fell by 7.7% in April, far below economists’ predictions of a 0.7% drop. The index also found home-sale activity fell last month to its lowest level since Spring 2020, with declines seen across every US region, especially the Midwest and West.

• Overall, data shows homebuyers across 20 major US cities are facing higher prices than ever – which can partially be attributed to low housing inventory.
• America currently has 1.2 million homes on the market, down from 1.9 million in May 2019 and a recent peak of 3.8 million in May 2008.

Looking ahead… Experts say elevated mortgage rates and low supply will continue to curb sales as the housing market enters the peak of its traditionally busy spring-summer season. The industry is also preparing for another home-market wrench in August, when the NAR will eliminate its customary 6% commission for real estate agents.

📊 Flash poll: How would you rate your personal satisfaction with the current US housing market?

• A+/A/A-
• B+/B/B-
• C+/C/C-
• D+/D/D-
• F+/F/F-

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• 🦉 Trouble sleeping

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🍊 Global orange juice prices hit fresh (heh) new highs this week. Prices of the breakfast staple have climbed sharply in recent years, largely due to declining output in Florida and extreme weather in Brazil (the world’s largest orange producer/exporter). The benchmark for frozen concentrated OJ futures closed at a record-high $4.77/pound on Wednesday, nearly double the price one year ago. These price increases are forcing some producers to explore replacing oranges with other fruits like mandarins.

🇺🇦 President Biden is secretly allowing Ukraine to strike inside Russia using US-provided weapons, per multiple reports. According to unnamed US officials, the permission is restricted so that Ukraine can only hit targets on Russian soil located close to Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, where Russian troops have begun a major assault. Officials say the decision is aimed at allowing Ukraine to counter Russian artillery and missiles being fired into Kharkiv from across the border. They also say the US hasn’t changed its policy prohibiting Ukraine from using American weapons for “long range” attacks inside Russia.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong convicted 14 pro-democracy activists in its largest national security trial to date. The defendants, who face prison terms ranging from three years to life, were among 47 activists arrested in 2021 for allegedly holding an unofficial primary election. The year-long trial centered around a controversial national security law enacted by Hong Kong in response to anti-China and anti-government protests in 2019-2020.

Netflix, where fantasy shows like The Witcher, The Umbrella Academy, and Locke & Key live, is leaning into reality TV.

The streamer yesterday renewed romantic-focused reality shows The Ultimatum and The Ultimatum: Queer Love. It also announced three brand-new reality TV shows:

• Selling the City, another installment of the Selling franchise that follows a group of real estate agents at Douglas Elliman in New York.
• Building the Band, a show following 50 singers who form their own bands without ever laying eyes on each other, described as Love is Blind meets The Voice.
• Battle Camp (a working title), which features stars from across the Netflix Reality Universe pitted against each other in “the ultimate physical and mental competition.”

Netflix is in the midst of a reality-TV push. New seasons of The Mole, Too Hot to Handle, and Perfect Match will be dropping over the next two months. The streamer will also debut a UK version of Love is Blind in August.

These programs join Netflix’s existing base of reality shows, which includes titles like Is It Cake, Love on the Spectrum, and Rhythm & Flow.

👀 Zoom out: Reality TV attracts major eyeballs. ~79% of US adults that watch TV watch reality shows, according to data from market research firm Gitnux.

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💬 Quoted: “Guilty.”

• Yesterday evening, a New York jury found former President Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment, making him the first first former president ever convicted of a crime. Trump now faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison for each count – up to 20 years in total – at his sentencing hearing on July 11, though first-time offenders for these crimes typically avoid any jail time in New York. The former president is certain to appeal the verdict, kicking off a legal process that could take months or years to resolve. Trump’s conviction doesn’t affect his ability to run for president, even if he’s ultimately sentenced to jail. In public comments after his conviction, Trump called himself “a very innocent man” and said “the real verdict is going to be November 5, by the people, and they know what happened here.”

+Dive deeper: Background | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right

🎫 Stat of the Day: A hacking group called ShinyHunters claims to have breached Ticketmaster’s systems and stolen the personal data of 560 million customers – which the group is now offering for $500,000 in a "one-time sale." The incident adds to a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month for Ticketmaster-parent Live Nation, which was sued by US regulators last week over alleged monopolistic practices.

🤔 Did You Know? The average soccer player runs ~7 miles over the course of each match (except for the goalie, who only runs out of wind when hit in the stomach).

📰 Worth a Read: Inside Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Growing Alliance → (Wall Street Journal)

• ☝️ NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently found the oldest and most distant galaxy ever observed; the JADES-GS-z14-0 galaxy formed an estimated 290 million years after the big bang.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Monk Manual

• 💰 US markets closed down across the board (S&P: -0.6%; Dow: -0.9%; Nasdaq: -1.1%). | 👕 Shares of Gap rose 20+% in after-hours trading following a better-than-expected earnings report.
• 🚙 Jeep unveiled its first EV for the American market; the Wagoneer S will start at ~$72,000 when it becomes available this fall. | 🛒 Amazon Prime now includes a Grubhub food delivery subscription as a permanent fixture, instead of just for one year.
• ✈️ Boeing executives presented sweeping changes to its production process and safety systems in a three-hour meeting with the FAA.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏀 The Dallas Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103 to win the Western Conference Finals (4-1); the Mavs will advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011. | 🏀 Unrivaled, a new 3v3 pro women’s basketball league that hopes to attract top WNBA players in their offseason, will debut in January; Unrivaled says its players will earn the highest average salary in pro women’s sports history. | 🐝 Florida 12-year-old Bruhat Soma won the 96th Scripps National Spelling Bee.
• 🎸 John Lennon’s acoustic guitar that was used to record the Beatles albums Help! and Rubber Soul sold at auction for $2.9 million; it’s the most expensive Beatles instrument ever auctioned off.
• 📺🏈 HBO’s Hard Knocks will be centered around the Chicago Bears during the upcoming NFL preseason.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with NoNetz

• 🩹 Scientists are developing a new generation of smart bandages that could allow doctors to remotely monitor wounds, decrease scarring, and speed up healing with a zap of light or electricity.
• 🐟 Anglerfish, strange deep-sea creatures that live in the ocean’s lightless zone, began to flourish ~50 million years ago after developing a reproductive strategy in which some males permanently attach themselves to females, per a new study.
• 🔎 Google confirmed that a collection of 2,500 leaked internal documents – which detail some of the data collected by Google Search – are authentic. | 🚁 Amazon received FAA approval to expand its Prime Air delivery drone service. (2024 is poised to be the year of drone delivery services)

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🧾 The IRS is making its free online tax filing program permanent for the 2025 tax season, with all 50 states and Washington, DC, invited to participate.
• 🤖 OpenAI said it stopped groups in Russia, China, Iran, and Israel from using its generative AI tools for foreign influence operations.
• 🗳️🗣️ X and NewsNation will reportedly host a live town hall with former President Trump ahead of the November election, as well as a separate live town hall with independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

CLICKBAIT

• 🦠 The medieval disease that killed thousands of people, then vanished from history.

This teeny baby was rescued earlier this week from a storm drain in Texas. 

🐱 Big job, small kitten: The kitten had been trapped underground for multiple days before firefighters were informed – and immediately got to work. After moving two storm drains out of the way, the Seguin Fire Department team successfully saved the kitten.

• "Thank you to Station 3, C-shift," read a Facebook post by the department. "Another reminder that no job is too big or small." 

Our weekly news quiz is live. In just two minutes or less, see how your news superpowers stack up against The DONUT team.

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Mini marshmallows
• Butter
• Salt
• Graham cracker cereal (Golden Grahams)
• Semisweet chocolate chips

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Fennel seeds
• Garlic cloves
• Lemon, zested
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil
• Salmon

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Bacon
• Garlic & herb cream cheese
• Cheddar cheese
• Monterey Jack
• Pickled jalapenos
• Cumin
• Sourdough bread
• Butter
• Parmesan cheese

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☝️ Recipe #1: S’mores cereal bars

✌️ Recipe #2: Mediterranean salmon

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Jalapeño popper grilled cheese sandwich