The bottom line

China now has 129 of the biggest companies in the world by revenue, compared with 121 for the United States. It’s the first time that another country has surpassed the U.S. on the Fortune Global 500 since the list debuted in 1990.Fortune

Forty-nine percent of Americans now hold a cash-back credit card, a 6 percent increase from last year. Among Millennials ages 23 to 38, roughly a quarter receive cash back weekly. The average cash-back return is 1.25 percent.Bloomberg.com

Of the 50 most valuable franchises in professional sports, 26 are NFL teams. Every NBA, MLB, and NFL team is now worth over $1 billion, with the Dallas Cowboys ($5 billion) ranking first, ahead of the New York Yankees ($4.6 billion) and Real Madrid ($4.2 billion).Forbes

Snail farms are booming. The global “slime” industry from milking snails has grown to $314 million—mainly for cosmetics based on “snail secretions,” which are believed to offset aging and give the skin a dewy glow. Snail mucin face masks retail for $300.TheGuardian.com

A rare-sneaker auction by Sotheby’s was almost cancelled after one collector paid $850,000 to buy 99 of the 100 pairs of shoes. He paid $437,500 for the last shoes, a pair of 1972 Nike “Moon Shoes,” which co-founder Bill Bowerman famously designed using a waffle iron.Qz.com

Existing-home sales fell 2.2 percent in June compared with a year earlier, marking the 16th consecutive month of annual declines. New home sales fell 3.7 percent. Home prices in Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco also fell, for the first time since 2012.The Wall Street Journal

Building the lawn-mate economy

A startup is offering to make home ownership more affordable—by building a studio apartment in your backyard, said Anthony Ha in TechCrunch.com. San Francisco–based Rent the Backyard handles the construction of a lawn-locked apartment unit, “lists the property, selects the tenant, collects the rent, and serves as the landlord,” while giving you part of the ownership stake and splitting the rental income 50/50. All you have to do is give up a piece of your backyard—at least 30 by 30 feet. Theoretically, you could just do this for yourself, but the company offers to handle the heavy lifting with “no headaches”—including the permitting, which in California is infamously onerous. Sky-high prices have pushed many Californians to spend more than they can afford on homes. The company says the tiny rentals can ease the burden, bringing homeowners $10,000 a year or more for their units. ■

July 26, 2019 THE WEEK