First Wave of Energy Price Spikes Hit CPI Inflation by Wolf Richter • Apr 10, 2026 • 0 Comments Energy that Americans pay for directly: Gasoline, propane, fuel oil, other fuels, utility natural gas, and electricity.
US Government Interest Payments, Tax Receipts, Average Interest Rate on the Debt, and Debt-to-GDP Ratio in Q4 2025 by Wolf Richter • Apr 9, 2026 • 28 Comments It’s ugly, but slightly less ugly.
The Once Uber-Dovish ECB Continues QT, Shed €66 Billion in March, Has now Shed 50% of QE Assets since Peak by Wolf Richter • Apr 9, 2026 • 6 Comments Marking its gold to market every quarter (unlike the Fed), the ECB booked another big write-up of its gold holdings in Q1.
Six-Month Core PCE Inflation (still before Iran War) Jumps by Most since June 2024. The Fed Needs to Pay Attention by Wolf Richter • Apr 9, 2026 • 36 Comments “Market-Based Core PCE price index,” which excludes the imputed housing components, spiked by the most since February 2023.
Home Prices in the Largest European Countries Range from Housing Bubbles to a Market that Fell back to 2010 by Wolf Richter • Apr 8, 2026 • 45 Comments Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Czech Republic, Finland, Portugal, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria.
Used Vehicle Wholesale Prices Jumped. That’s How it Started in 2020 when Broad Inflation Took Off by Wolf Richter • Apr 7, 2026 • 54 Comments These new inflation pressures suddenly building up in the pipeline are concerning.
Bank of Japan Accelerated QT Further, Started Selling Equity ETFs & J-REITs, Shed 12.6% of its Assets since the Peak by Wolf Richter • Apr 7, 2026 • 12 Comments BOJ tries to put a floor under the yen and a lid on inflation through QT, rather than with rate hikes.
About those Orders for Durable Goods that Factories in the US Received by Wolf Richter • Apr 7, 2026 • 18 Comments The 12-month average, which irons out Boeing’s huge orders, shows the trend: +8.8% year-over-year.
Japanese Government 10-Year Yield Highest since 1997, Yen at 160 despite Intervention Threats, But Bond Vigilantes Still Dead by Wolf Richter • Apr 6, 2026 • 27 Comments Inflation and the deteriorating yen pushed the Bank of Japan into a hawkish stance, and bond yields are on their own.
Bond Market Gets Nervous about Rising Inflation, Ballooning Debt, Sees Rate Hike. Mortgage Rates Jump to 6.46% by Wolf Richter • Apr 4, 2026 • 65 Comments 10-Year Treasury yield bounced to 4.35% on Friday, after dipping earlier in the week. 30-year Treasury near 5%. Entire Yield Curve above EFFR.
This is the Weirdest US Labor Market I’ve Ever Seen by Wolf Richter • Apr 3, 2026 • 117 Comments Weak demand for labor and job destruction at federal & state governments should push up unemployment. But the supply of labor has plunged.
My Take on Auto Sales in March – Come to Think of it, My Take on the Tough & Ugly US Auto Market by Wolf Richter • Apr 2, 2026 • 93 Comments GM, Ford, Honda in a quagmire. Tesla now like GM & Ford. Stellantis & Nissan try to exit a death spiral. Toyota gains. Hyundai-Kia rocks from record to record.
The Massive Unsustainable Trade Deficit in Goods Has Improved Sharply. Tariffs Are Doing their Job by Wolf Richter • Apr 2, 2026 • 74 Comments The 6-month average trade deficit in goods fell to $80 billion, the least-bad since 2020.
Inventory of Homes for Sale in California Rose to the 2nd Highest for March in over a Decade as Demand Withered: Biggest Markets by Wolf Richter • Apr 1, 2026 • 39 Comments In the San Jose metro (Silicon Valley), active listings hit at least a 10-year record for March. But Orange County lags behind.
Retail Sales Plunged in February. But Huge Seasonal Adjustments Caused them to Jump. A Look at Both by Wolf Richter • Apr 1, 2026 • 11 Comments But what the heck happened at food & beverage stores?
Stasis in the US Labor Market: a Peculiar Situation by Wolf Richter • Mar 31, 2026 • 56 Comments Total separations drop to the lowest since 2015 beyond the lockdown months.
Farm Action’s Letter to Congress, Lambasting the Concentration of Fertilizer Makers and its Impact on Prices by Wolf Richter • Mar 31, 2026 • 44 Comments “These structural dynamics allow supply disruptions … to translate into rapid, outsized, and sustained price increases.”
Humana, Caught up in the Metastasizing Medicare Overbilling Scandal, Enters Our Imploded Stocks by Wolf Richter • Mar 30, 2026 • 72 Comments Government crackdown and legal entanglements take all the fun out of the Medicare Advantage plan bonanza.
Status of US Dollar as Global Reserve Currency: USD Share Drops to 31-Year Low as Central Banks Diversify into Other Currencies & Gold by Wolf Richter • Mar 28, 2026 • 81 Comments The spike of the “non-traditional reserve currencies.”
Update on the “Lock-in Effect” in the Housing Market: Below-3% & 4% Mortgages Fade Very Slowly by Wolf Richter • Mar 27, 2026 • 52 Comments Share of ARMs originations fell further and is at historic lows: FHFA’s National Mortgage Database.
