Ecommerce Sales Spike to Record. Retail Sales ex Gas Stations, ex Auto Dealers Jump to Record. Plunging Price of Gasoline & Shortage of New Vehicles Dog those Retailers by Wolf Richter • Aug 17, 2022 • 56 Comments No, consumers didn’t suddenly flock back to the mall. That was just a media joke. They bought online more than ever. Sales at department stores fell.
Another Collapsed SPAC, Lottery.com, Discloses WTF Horror List and Says it Will Liquidate Unless Miracle Happens by Wolf Richter • Aug 16, 2022 • 109 Comments The years 2020 and 2021 will go down as the greatest era ever of consensual hallucination and financial gangsterism.
Boom & Bust Cycles: Construction Starts of Single-Family Houses v. Multifamily Buildings by Wolf Richter • Aug 16, 2022 • 52 Comments Starts: Single-family houses: -18.8% year-over-year; larger multifamily buildings: +15.9%. Here are the long-term trends.
Compass Prepares for 25% Downturn in Housing Market, Plans Serious Cost Cutting, Pukes All Over the Place by Wolf Richter • Aug 15, 2022 • 116 Comments Because suddenly the SoftBank-backed company, which blew $1.73 billion since 2017, is running out of runway.
“Housing Recession”: NAHB. Homebuilders Cut Prices as Traffic of Prospective New-House Buyers Plunges, Cancellations Spike by Wolf Richter • Aug 15, 2022 • 137 Comments Homebuilder sentiment dives 8th month in a row, their stocks are down 19% to 36% YTD despite blistering summer rally.
New Vehicle Inventory Dips, Near Record Low. Fuel-Efficient Cars Vanish. But Supply of Full-size Pickups & SUVs Rises, Discounting Sets in to Move the Iron by Wolf Richter • Aug 13, 2022 • 191 Comments Average prices jump relentlessly from record to record.
Mopping up Mess from SPAC Mania: After Imploding, Shift Technologies (-92%) and CarLotz (-95%) Merge into One Zombie to Burn Remaining Cash Together by Wolf Richter • Aug 12, 2022 • 107 Comments Charts of stocks like these – hundreds of them now – are an indictment of the mania in 2020 & 2021. We’ll be shaking our heads for years.
The WOLF STREET Mugs Have Finally Arrived: If You’re on the “Mug List,” Please Read This by Wolf Richter • Aug 12, 2022 • 32 Comments If your address changed since getting on the Mug List, please let me know by email. The mugs start going out this weekend.
House Prices in San Francisco & Bay Area Experience Steep Declines from April Peak Craziness, Down Year-over-Year by Wolf Richter • Aug 11, 2022 • 91 Comments Sales volume plunged 38%.
Housing Bubble Getting Ready to Pop: The Big Boys Leave, Waiting for Reset by Wolf Richter • Aug 11, 2022 • 215 Comments Biggest investors in single-family houses: “We need to be patient and allow the market to reset.”
Services Inflation Worst since 1982, Food Inflation Worst since 1979, Housing CPI Heats Up. But Energy Prices Plunge, Some Durable Goods Drop: Inflation Whack A Mole by Wolf Richter • Aug 10, 2022 • 173 Comments Inflation in services is now where the action is, not commodities or durable goods.
QT Kicks Off at the ECB: Assets Fell by €91 Billion from Peak by Wolf Richter • Aug 10, 2022 • 94 Comments Raging inflation ends an absurdity.
“Furthermore,” This Could be the End for Investors, Says Avaya, the Lucent Spinoff. Shares & Bonds Collapse Five Years after it Emerged from Bankruptcy by Wolf Richter • Aug 9, 2022 • 115 Comments Wait a minute… Six weeks ago, Goldman Sachs & JP Morgan talked investors into buying $600 million of new debt.
SoftBank Lost $39 Billion in 6 Months, Wiping Out the Bubble Gains of the Vision Funds Since 2017: Easy Come, Easy Go by Wolf Richter • Aug 8, 2022 • 98 Comments Now trying to avoid “a blow that would be irreversible.”
THE WOLF STREET REPORT: Housing Bubble Getting Ready to Pop – The Big Boys Leave, Waiting for Reset by Wolf Richter • Aug 7, 2022 • 226 Comments Biggest investors in single-family houses: “We need to be patient and allow the market to reset.”
Are Federal Student Loans Even “Loans?” From Forbearance to Forgiveness to Taxpayer Expense. Fairer: Allow Bankruptcy by Wolf Richter • Aug 7, 2022 • 271 Comments The educational-industrial complex is laughing all the way to the bank.
The “Under-Demanded” Office Market by Wolf Richter • Aug 6, 2022 • 120 Comments “There’s almost no liquidity in the office market. No one knows where pricing will be when one of these towers finally sells.”
Recession Mongers Shocked & Horrified by this Surge in Employment by Wolf Richter • Aug 5, 2022 • 165 Comments They’re praying for a recession to “force” the Fed to pivot. But it’s tough to have an official recession with employment growing, wages surging.
Fed’s QT: Total Assets Drop by $91 Billion from Peak (QE created money, QT Destroys Money) by Wolf Richter • Aug 4, 2022 • 168 Comments What the Fed did in details and charts.
Trip Back to Reality Starts: Mortgages, HELOCs, Delinquencies, and Foreclosures in Q2 by Wolf Richter • Aug 4, 2022 • 103 Comments Forbearance and pandemic cash run out. But a lot of fun was had by all.
