It's Friday, August 21st, 2020, just after market closed in New York. This is the Real Vision Daily Briefing.

I'm Ash Bennington in New York joined shortly by our CEO and co-founder, Ralpow.

But first, Jack Farley with the day's stories.

Thanks, Ash.

The European Recovery is losing steam.

That's according to the PMI surveys released today.

The market composite reading for the Eurozone came in at 51.6, technically indicating expansion, but this figure

was lower than not just the 45.9 reading in July, but from the 55 flat reading that

economists and policy makers were expecting. the manufacturing PMI reading was robust. In France the manufacturing survey stood at 49 flat. That's right, the French manufacturing sector is officially in contraction.

This news hit the euro hard today, which sank over 60 bips against the dollar. In the US, the

indicators were much better. The market composite PMI came in at a robust 54.7,

supported by a dominant services reading of 54.8.

But the headline figure that's really turning heads today is existing home sales, which came in at 5.86 million

for the month of July, a monthly growth of a staggering 24.7%.

And it's not as if these properties are being liquidated in a fire sale.

No, quite the opposite.

Prices have jumped 8.5% from a year earlier.

So based on these readings,

there's a stark contrast between the two continents.

While Europe was hit with a wake-up call today,

it looks like the American Dream has yet again bought itself more time.

This surge in housing sales likely has two main drivers.

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