U.S. Spring Home Selling Season Is Off to a Rough Start

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News

4.1 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

P.M. Edition for April 13. New data out today shows that U.S. existing home sales dropped 3.6% in March, worse than economists expected. We hear from WSJ housing reporter Nicole Friedman about what’s driving the decline. Plus, Goldman Sachs kicks off earnings season with a record quarter in banking and trading And the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is officially in effect. WSJ senior video and national security correspondent Shelby Holliday discusses the Trump administration’s goal in cutting off access to Iran’s ports, while reporter Joe Wallace talks about the impact on global oil markets. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:21.6	advice you won't want to miss. Available wherever you get your podcast. Published by Capital
0:27.2	Client Group, Inc.
0:33.5	The U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz goes into effect, sending global oil markets spinning once again.
0:40.3	Plus, the spring home selling season is off to a rough start.
0:44.2	Given that the March numbers weren't very good, it's really not a good sign for what we can expect in April and even into May.
0:51.5	So this is a pretty bad sign for the rest of the year
0:54.5	because spring is such an important time in the housing market.
0:58.0	And Goldman reports a record quarter in banking and trading,
1:01.2	but investors are worried about the future.
1:03.9	It's Monday, April 13th.
1:05.8	I'm Alex O'Shea for the Wall Street Journal.
1:08.3	This is the PM edition of What's News,
1:10.6	the top headlines
1:11.7	and business stories that move the world today.
1:19.2	As we mentioned on this morning show, President Trump said the U.S. would blockade the strait of Hormuz
1:24.5	after diplomatic talks with Iran fell apart over the weekend.
1:33.9	Well, this U.S. effort to stop traffic getting to and from Iranian ports is now in effect as of this morning,
1:36.5	as the president told reporters at the White House today.
1:38.1	The blockade started, sir?
1:39.7	Yeah, started at 10 o'clock.
1:47.9	WSJ senior video and national security correspondent Shelby Holiday is here to tell us how the U.S. is enforcing the blockade.
	...

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