Your Evening Briefing: Apple Sees Sales Drop for Four Straight Quarters

Apple saw its sales drop for a fourth straight quarter, marking its longest slide in 22 years. The company is struggling with sluggish demand and a shaky smartphone market in China. Revenue fell to $89.5 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 30. The results suggest that Apple is facing a bigger slowdown in China than originally feared. The government there has imposed iPhone bans in some workplaces, and a new phone from Huawei Technologies is providing fresh competition.

It may feel to some as if the US housing market is in a never-ending affordability crisis, with prices continually rising and inventory shrinking. The reasons have ranged from anemic construction to student loan debt to investors buying up starter homes. Americans with cheap loans don’t want to sell. Those without homes can’t afford to buy. Will anything budge? Here’s the story behind why buying a home has become an impossible mess.