Today’s topics

• Wealthy Buyers Opt for Cash Deals to Avoid Mortgage Rates

• Roaring Kitty

• Advanced Chat-GPT-4o

• A soap that could help fight skin cancer

  and more…

Wealthy Buyers Opt for Cash Deals to Avoid Mortgage Rates: Wealthy homebuyers in New York and Florida are increasingly choosing cash deals over mortgages, resulting in record-high luxury market prices. While mortgages were popular during the pandemic, the current trend favors cash transactions. Across the United States, cash purchases accounted for 31% of home sales in the first quarter, matching the highest percentage since 2013^.

Economic Disparity Between Europe and the US: The economic gap between Europe and the United States has widened significantly. As the US experiences robust growth, rising prices, and higher wages, Europeans find it increasingly challenging to achieve the American dream. A comparison of economic indicators reveals stark differences. Since 2016, European economies have retreated, while the US has thrived—a pattern reminiscent of historical economic booms like the Gilded Age and Roaring Twenties. Notably, in 2016, France’s GDP per capita stood at $38,350, compared to $58,180 in the US. By 2023, these figures had risen to $47,360 (France) and $85,370 (US), highlighting an 80% gap (or 40% when adjusted for purchasing power parities).

Roaring Kitty, the man at the center of the pandemic meme stock craze, has resurfaced on the social platform X after a three-year hiatus. His reappearance has reignited the wild days of 2021, propelling shares of GameStop and AMC to surge once more. On Sunday, May 12, 2024, Keith Gill (also known as Roaring Kitty) posted an image of a man sitting forward in his chair—a meme used by gamers when things get serious. He followed up with a YouTube video from years before, championing the beleaguered company GameStop. In 2021, GameStop was struggling as consumers shifted from physical discs to digital downloads. Large Wall Street hedge funds bet against the company, but Gill and like-minded investors changed its trajectory by buying up thousands of GameStop shares. This triggered a “short squeeze,” forcing those big investors to buy rapidly rising stock to offset their losses. On Monday, GameStop shares more than doubled, marking the biggest intraday trading jump since the 2021 meme craze. Other meme stocks, including AMC, also surged. Gill’s return echoes the past, leaving investors with a sense of déjà vu.

PRESENTED BY Bay Area Times

Looking for visuals and charts, rather than words, to understand the daily news?

Bay Area Times is a visual-based newsletter on business and tech, with 250,000+ subscribers.

Introducing the Advanced Chat-GPT-4o with Enhanced Capabilities

The innovative GPT-4o, OpenAI’s most recent AI iteration powering ChatGPT, has been unveiled. This upgraded variant boasts increased speed, the ability to instruct in mathematics, and engage in playful banter. Accessible to everyone, subscribers and casual users alike, GPT-4o possesses the skill to interpret and converse about imagery, perform language translations, and recognize emotional cues from facial expressions. With its capacity to recall past interactions, manage breaks in dialogue with ease, and provide immediate feedback, it facilitates a conversation flow that feels more intuitive and human-like.

Teen scientist developed a soap that could help fight skin cancer

Introducing Heman Bekele, a 14-year-old hailing from Fairfax, Virginia, who stands out from his peers. His unique soap, drawing from his Ethiopian heritage, clinched the first place at the 3M Young Scientist’s Challenge. The soap utilizes lipid nanoparticles to administer anti-cancer medications, triggering the immune cells within the body to fight off the illness.

Switzerland secures the Eurovision title: Triumphing in the 68th edition of the Eurovision song contest, Switzerland’s “The Code” performed by Nemo clinched the win. The event faced challenges with demonstrations and eleventh-hour contestant disqualifications.

The Northern Lights have made a rare appearance across the UK: Thrilled spectators circulated images of the phenomenon, known as the aurora borealis, observable across the nation, even on England’s southern shores - and for those who didn’t catch the spectacle, there’s a potential viewing opportunity this coming Saturday evening.