gm.
houthis hit riyadh. snap's $2,195 glasses launched. plus what higher for longer means for your money.
three things worth your time
1. houthis just hit riyadh. the middle east war escalated fast.
on saturday, houthi rebels (an iran-backed militia based in yemen) fired a ballistic missile at saudi arabia's capital, the first time riyadh itself has been targeted since the fighting with iran-backed groups escalated. explosions rang out overnight. an aramco fuel tank near the airport caught fire. saudi issued emergency alerts across the kingdom.
trump cut his weekend at camp david short and returned to the white house saturday. the state department publicly warned that "this military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly" and told americans outside the region to "seriously reconsider travel to and through the region."
on sunday, iran's military headquarters warned any country supporting US strikes against iran would be considered "complicit" and could face iranian retaliation against american bases and interests across the middle east. that's a direct message to gulf countries hosting US bases (bahrain, uae, qatar, kuwait).
context: the fighting in the gulf started with drones hitting saudi's east-west oil pipeline earlier this month. this weekend it jumped from infrastructure to the capital, with iran now threatening any country that helps the US.
2. snap just officially launched its $2,195 AR glasses.
on wednesday, snap officially launched SPECS at a live event in los angeles. evan spiegel demoed the glasses overlaying turn-by-turn directions, translating live conversations, streaming movies, taking calls, and hands-free video chat with the person appearing in your field of view.
pricing: $2,195 base, $2,395 for the cellular version (works without wifi, tied to verizon). first-run production is capped at 100,000 units. pre-orders require a $200 refundable deposit. shipping this fall. you can demo them at select verizon stores now.
why this matters: SPECS is the first mass-market consumer eyewear with a real in-lens AR display and no external hardware. meta's ray-bans have no display. apple's vision pro has a display but requires a bulky headset with an external battery pack. snap's earlier spectacles never caught on with consumers.
3. what "higher for longer" actually means for your money.
wednesday's fed hike wasn't a one-off. the dot plot (each FOMC member's forecast for year-end rates) shows 12 of 18 members expect one more hike this year and only 2 want no more. warsh has publicly said the fed has "work to do" on inflation. rates aren't coming down soon. here's what that means by asset class:
mortgages. 30-year fixed is hovering around 7%. sellers with 3% mortgages aren't listing. buyers can't afford. a big chunk of the housing market is essentially frozen and stays that way until rates move.
savings. high-yield savings and 1-year CDs are still paying 4-5%. those rates historically drop when the fed eventually cuts.
stocks. the S&P has ripped 26%, 25%, and 18% the last three years. runs like that historically end with a flat or down year, and we've already had a 2-3% pullback in the last month. expect more volatility.
crypto. BTC is around $81K, down from its $126K peak last october. past fed hike cycles have generally been followed by BTC drawdowns before longer-term recoveries.
bottom line: cheap money is over for a while.
two more quick things
mbappé just ended his 20-year nike deal.
on saturday, kylian mbappé signed with on, the swiss brand backed by roger federer that's best known for running shoes. mbappé had been with nike since 2006 (age 8). thierry henry will lead on's new football division, and mbappé got equity in the brand, not just a check. on's first major move into soccer.
pat mcafee's college kicking contest is up to $8.2M.
on saturday at ole miss vs LSU, an ole miss freshman who'd never kicked a football hit a $1M field goal on his first attempt. that makes $2.2M given away in the first three weeks of the college football season and $8.2M lifetime. home depot is now matching mcafee's contributions.
see you thursday.
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not financial advice. aggregated community trends and commentary.