Good afternoon. Today is Wednesday, June 18th. I'm your host for today,

Rena Sherble, filling in for Kim Khan. Our top story so far, homebuilding activity plunged last month, with groundbreaking on new

homes falling to the lowest level since 2020. Housing starts tumbled 9.8% to an annual rate of

1.256 million in May, well below the 1.35 million consensus and down from 1.392 million in April.

Single family starts in May were at a rate of 898,000, down 2.7% from the revised April figure

of 923,000. Authorizations of units and buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 444,000

last month. Building permits, a measure of future demand, fell 2% to a rate of $1.393 million last

month from $1.422 million in April. That was short short of the 1.42 million expected. Treasury yields

paired gains right after the number hit on concerns of housing-led economic slowdown,

but the moves were muted ahead of the Fed announcement this afternoon. Pantheon macroeconomist

Oliver Allen says the plunge starts was, quote, mostly due to a near 30% collapse in multifamily starts that will probably unwind over the next month or two.

Confidence among home builders has collapsed recently weighed down by relatively weak home sales and mounting inventory, suggesting that further declines in new single

family construction probably lie in store, end quote.

Among active stocks today, Netflix is making its foray into the world of live TV.

The streaming giant and French TV network group TF1 have struck a deal through which

Netflix members in France will be able to watch TF1 channels.

Through the distribution partnership, TF1's live channels and on-demand content will be

available to Netflix account holders in France as part of their existing subscription, the

companies said.

They did not disclose if there

would be a separate charge for accessing the TV channels on the platform. Marvel technology has

seen some buying after analysts heaped praise on the announcements made at the company's custom AI event.

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