Good evening and welcome to Markets Desk.
Washington has put Kyiv on notice, with the Trump administration warning that continued Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory could jeopardize intelligence sharing between the two allies. The threat came directly after President Zelenskyy publicly criticized a diesel supply arrangement with Moscow, signaling real tension in what has been a fragile diplomatic relationship.
Turning to housing, the starter home market continues to shrink nationally, with fewer than one quarter of large metro areas still considered starter-home-dominant according to a new Realtor dot com report. Affordability pressures and elevated mortgage rates are squeezing entry-level inventory, though a handful of cities are bucking that trend and holding onto meaningful supply for first-time buyers.
And on the technology front, the conversation around artificial intelligence is moving well beyond productivity tools into something far more personal. Researchers are raising serious questions about AI-driven pricing models, where algorithms could show different consumers different prices for the identical product, effectively making personalized price discrimination a quiet feature of everyday commerce.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
