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The Week Ahead

Monday — TSpaceX launches Falcon 9

Tuesday — The Consumer Confidence Report is released today

Wednesday — June 26-29: VidCon is here. The industries biggest event for digital content creators and influencers, held in Anaheim, California. We’ll be there

Thursday — ShePG CPG Female Founder Mixer: This event, powered by Settle, is scheduled for Thursday, June 27, 2024

Friday - Marketers are preparing for the end of Q2 and the beginning of Q3, which typically starts on July 1st.

Highs and Lows for house hunters

The Average American Can't Afford a House in 99% of the U.S. Say goodbye to the 20% down payment. Zillow says you’ll need to put down roughly 35%, or almost $128,000, to afford a typical home.

Mortgage rates are through the roof

... we're talking nearly double what they were four years ago! It's no secret that buying a home is getting tougher. In fact, it's become "unaffordable" for the average American in 99% of the country, according to CBS News. Rates and fees, Theey're all over the map from lender to lender. So, even when rates are soaring, doing your homework and shopping around could be your best bet.

With rates hovering around 7.2%, that translates to a 30-40% increase in housing costs, per Yahoo Finance. But here's the thing: where you want to buy matters. A lot. Like, tens of thousands of dollars over your loan's lifetime kind of difference. A new report from Flatworld Solutions digs into the state-by-state breakdown, so it's worth doing your homework.

The Debt Factor

So, when can we expect some relief? Well, the Federal Reserve might be in no rush to cut interest rates, but there's another player in the game: the U.S. national debt. Think of it like this: to attract investors to mortgage-backed securities, those securities need juicy interest rates. And that keeps your mortgage rate higher.

Chief economist at Bright MLS put it this way.

Barclays just kicked off what could be a trend of rate cuts from banks. And others will soon to follow.

The big picture? The Fed's been steady on interest rates since last summer, but residential investment is taking a hit.

What else? Hawk Tuah

•  Hailey Welch, a resident of Nashville, went viral after she enacted a spitting act 'on that thing.' X users, TikTok, and the meme machine are going bananas. Why? It's divided public opinion on virality. The video, which now has 5.7M related videos, originally featured an interview with the woman, who shared her unorthodox technique involving a specific head movement ("hawk tuah") and spitting.

• The woman's advice sparked widespread memes and discourse, with her southern accent, humor, and confidence captivating many male viewers. Despite her newfound internet fame and the "Hawk Tuah Girl" nickname, the woman seemed less than thrilled about becoming meme royalty.

The Takeaway: The Hawktuah discourse is the most honest and wholesome, silly, and pointless POV since the blue vs black viral phenomenon. The meme machine is unpredictable chaos.

Teens are 'Mewing' jawlines.

• Does it work? Mewing, the latest viral facial fad, promises to redefine your jawline without the need for contouring makeup. But don't get your hopes up - this trend might be more bark than bite. Named after

• Dr. Mike Mew, it involves sticking your tongue to the roof of your mouth, but it's not as revolutionary as it seems.

The Takeaway: It's important to remember that such before and after pictures are not reliable. Sure, go ahead and give mewing a shot if you're feeling like a maverick. Just don't expect to have a chiseled Tom Cruise jawline. It's still a bit of a wild goose chase until research has proven otherwise.

Hope Core is giving hope to former Disneyland Actor

Pudgy Pengiuns, a Web3 media company which started as NFT’s is the latest brand to capitalize on this trend. The #hopecore hashtag on TikTok has over 208,000 posts, with some of the most popular videos garnering between 1-30 million view. A twitch streamer, Chet who goes by "Chetter72," now sits at Chet 2.3 Million followers after the official Puddy Pengiun account posted his stream video.

• The Takeaway: HopeCore is offering a response to cringetok. Where creators discover new positivity and uplifting content

What else?

1. The national debt is over $34 trillion.

2. Amazon Outlet is the retailer's best-kept secret.

3.The‘World Ugliest Dog Contest has a new winner, wild thang.

+Power Deals

• Target and Shopify team up to add third party marketplace [link]

• Apple and Meta have discussed a partnership