WORD ON THE STREET 

Elon Under Fire, Home Sales Plummet, Congress Wants Google Broken?

• Well, He Did Say Attacks Were Coming – Elon Musk is under fire from two directions, both political and personal. A flight attendant claims that she received a $250,000 payment for remaining silent about alleged sexual harassment. Billionaire Leo Koguan also wants Tesla (TSLA) to have a $15 billion buyback to compensate for the recent decline in the stock price. Elon Musk himself says he isn’t being distracted by the Twitter takeover bid, and that his attention is focused “24/7” on Tesla.

• Existing Home Sales Down To Pandemic Level – The National Association of Realtors reports that existing home sales fell to the lowest pace since the pandemic. Sales in April 2022 are down 5.9% compared to last year. However, don’t look for a buyers” market – prices are high because of rising interest rates and low supply.

• New Bill Would Break Up Google – The Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act would force Google to break up its digital advertising business. Does it have a chance? It’s unclear, but it does have bipartisan backing – try getting Republicans Mike Lee and Ted Cruz and Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal to agree on any other domestic issue.

• HOG Becomes A Pig On The Street – Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) fell more than 9% as the company said it was shutting down production for two weeks. Supply chain breakdowns were blamed – showing that these problems are lasting far beyond the pandemic.

HOT SPOTS: What’s Going on in Geopolitics

• Here We Go Again In Israel – Yet again, it looks like the governing majority in the Israeli Knesset has collapsed, raising the possibility of another election. A Palestinian member from the left-wing Meretz party withdrew from the coalition, meaning that the opposition now has the majority. This means there could be a fifth election in three years – and all this at a time when terrorism is once again a major concern.

• China Says “Dangerous Situation” In Taiwan – Blaming the United States, China’s top diplomat ripped American efforts to aid Taiwan. “If the US side insists on playing the Taiwan card and goes further and further down the wrong road,” said Yang Jiechi, “it will certainly lead to a dangerous situation.” He also said China will “certainly take firm action to safeguard its sovereignty and security interests.

• BRICS Expansion On The Way? – Chinese state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi said the BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) should expand. “China proposes to start the BRICS expansion process, explore the criteria and procedures for the expansion, and gradually form a consensus,” he said. That might complicate American efforts to economically isolate Russia.

CUTTING EDGE: What‘s Happening In Tech

• Canada Banning Huawei And ZTE From 5G – No longer can we anticipate new technology will make the world more connected. Canada has banned the Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE from its 5G network because of concerns they could be used for spying. The government claims this is for the “safety and security of Canadians.” Could this be another step in the digital decoupling between the West and Russia/China?

• Apple Bosses Preview New Headset – Apple (AAPL) is about to get into the “mixed reality” game. The launch of an entirely new product category is a big deal, akin to the launch of the iPhone. Now, executives have reportedly observed a device that promises augmented reality with new camera technology. The fact executives have already seen it suggests this launch may be coming very soon.

• Google Claims Human Level AI Is Near – DeepMind, a company owned by Google, may be able to unveil a human-level Artificial Intelligence. A scientist at the company said “the race is over” when it comes to achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). The only issue is “scaling up.” I expect either utopia or total war is on the way.

He’s going to turn on us, I’m warning you now

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION