| Applications to refinance mortgages surged for a second week as more Americans capitalized on the cheapest borrowing costs in two years. The Mortgage Bankers Association's refinancing index jumped 20.3% in the week ended Sept. 20 to the highest level since April 2022, the group said Wednesday. The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage eased 2 basis points to 6.13%, the eighth straight weekly drop and the longest stretch of declines since 2018-2019. That helped boost the group's home-purchase applications index by 1.4% last week to the highest level since early February. The fifth straight weekly advance in the measure points to burgeoning demand in a housing market that's gradually finding some footing. —Natasha Solo-Lyons An internal Boeing survey found many factory workers still felt pressure to prioritize speed over quality months after a midair blowout on one of the company's jets sparked a crisis of confidence in the planemaker. According to the survey conducted with about 2,100 Boeing workers in May—four months after a fuselage panel blew off a 737 Max aircraft—less than half of frontline manufacturing personnel stated that schedule pressures didn't cause their team to lower standards. The revelation shows that workers continued to feel pressure to cut corners even after Boeing's campaign to overhaul its safety culture was well underway. Israel stepped up its heaviest air attacks on what it says are Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since 2006 after saying it shot down the first missile ever fired by the militant group at Tel Aviv. Air sirens were activated in Israel's commercial capital early on Wednesday as the projectile flew over central parts of the country, the military said. Hezbollah said it was aiming for the headquarters of Mossad, Israel's external-intelligence agency, in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. The US is working with allies including France and the UK toward a proposal to halt escalation of the conflict, which has killed hundreds of people across southern Lebanon. OpenAI has pitched the Biden administration on the need for massive data centers that could each use as much power as entire cities, framing the unprecedented expansion as necessary to develop more advanced artificial intelligence models and compete with China. Following a recent meeting at the White House, which was attended by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and other tech leaders, the startup shared a document with government officials outlining the economic and national security benefits of building 5-gigawatt data centers in various US states, based on an analysis the company engaged with outside experts on. To put that in context, 5 gigawatts is roughly the equivalent of five nuclear reactors, or enough to power almost 3 million homes.  Sam Altman. Photographer: Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg More old Wall Street offices are slated for conversion into residential property. Manhattan-based Vanbarton Group is under contract to buy 77 Water St. with plans to convert the lower Manhattan property to apartments, according to people familiar with the matter. Vanbarton agreed to pay roughly $95 million for the 26-story tower and could create as many as 600 rental units, said one of the people, asking not to be named citing private discussions. America's higher education system, long the envy of the world, is reaching a breaking point. Colleges are folding at a fast clip, while a growing number of people are questioning the value of getting expensive degrees from private schools that have consistently jacked up tuition costs. At a time when many college administrators are whistling past the graveyard, one school is charting a way forward—with all the pains that come with adapting to this new reality. And the strategy is pulled straight from the private equity industry. Northeastern University has a dedicated mergers and acquisitions team that hunts for targets with the mission of getting big in a hurry.  Northeastern University in Boston. Photographer: Sophie Park/Bloomberg Goldman Sachs' consumer bank, Marcus, reduced the rate on its high-yield savings account following the Federal Reserve's first rate cut in more than four years. Marcus' flagship offering now has a 4.25% annual percentage yield, down from 4.4%. Similar moves are expected on cash products across the financial industry as the central bank eases monetary policy. Zimbabwe's latest attempt to introduce a new currency is coming undone, just five months after initially being praised for taming an inflation spiral and exchange-rate volatility. Central bank Governor John Mushayavanhu is being left to deal with the fallout in a nation which has faced multiple currency crises before. It is the veteran banker's first reckoning of the market upheaval that was all too familiar among his predecessors. The commodity trading industry has long been known for its shady behavior. But the trial of Javier Aguilar brought to life the inner workings of a modern-day bribery scheme like never before. Testimony painted a picture of a sector that has continued to write its own rules even as its largest companies became crucial to energy security, so much so that governments from Germany to Saudi Arabia help finance them. The traders often operate with little regulation or oversight. So what could go wrong? Watch this Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary to find out.  Watch The Global Oil Bribery Scheme Caught on Tape Photographer: Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg Get the Bloomberg Evening Briefing: If you were forwarded this newsletter, sign up here to receive Bloomberg's flagship briefing in your mailbox daily. Bloomberg Tech: Humanity has always relied on technology to drive growth. With the emergence of artificial intelligence, society is being asked to trust tech with economies, media and health like never before. Join visionaries, investors and business leaders in London on Oct. 22 to discuss the risks and rewards of this new age. Speakers include Monzo CEO TS Anil, Cohere Co-Founder and CEO Aidan Gomez, ŌURA CEO Tom Hale and ASML President & CEO Christophe Fouquet. Buy tickets today. | 
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