Christmas in July!

Welcome to The Money, where we break down financial news and provide the TL;DR version of how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies impact you.

Shopping for the holidays is no longer squeezed into the two weeks before Christmas. It comes in rounds now, with the first one coming in July. And if you feel like it's strange shopping for Christmas under a heat dome, no problem. You can turn it into early back-to-school shopping! Backpacks, uniforms and other school items will also be on sale, retailers say.

The shopping extravaganza centers around Amazon Prime Day on July 16-17, but it's no longer the only game in town. Walmart says it's having its largest sale ever from July 8-11, but you'll begin to find deals earlier. Target's biggest summer sale, dubbed Target Circle Week, is July 7-13.

If those retailers, don't do it for you, check out our list of the best online retailers for more ideas. And try Google's upgraded shopping tool to help you track the best deals.

Car sales screech to a halt

A massive hack to cloud-software company CDK Global brought down car dealerships nationwide, The company shut down most of its systems “out of an abundance of caution," which meant dealerships had to go old school and put actual pen to paper to complete any deals.

CDK said it expects its system to be shut down to most dealers until at least the end of the month.

Housing prices have risen across the world

U.S. cities didn't crack the top three in the world with the most unaffordable housing, but the did take half of the top 10 spots, according to the Chapman University and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

The top three most unaffordable housing markets are in Hong Kong, China, Sydney, Australia, and Vancouver, Canada. San Jose and Los Angeles -- both in California -- took fourth and fifth, respectively. Here's the full list. Do you live in one?

📰 More stories you shouldn't miss 📰

• Swelling U.S. deficit makes Americans poorer, economists say
• Walgreens plans to close a significant amount of underperforming U.S. stores
• Supreme Court throws out multi-billion dollar settlement with Purdue over opioid crisis
• Travel without breaking the bank: hotel chains that offer quality and affordability

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