Surging Inflation No Problem, Junk Bond Yields Drop to Record Low, Dish out Negative “Real” Yields to Fed-Whacked Investors

This messed-up labor market is finally producing rising wages. But companies are able to pass them on with higher prices: beginnings of an inflation spiral.

The Countries with the Most Monstrous Business Debts: US in 22nd Place Despite Massive Spike During the Pandemic

by Wolf Richter • Jun 7, 2021 • 106 Comments

China and the tax havens rule!

The WTF Spike of Used-Vehicle Prices Continues Unabated. So Which Part Is “Temporary?”

by Wolf Richter • Jun 7, 2021 • 160 Comments

This would normally have triggered a Buyers’ Strike, but the Inflationary Mindset has changed.

Oh Lordy, Yellen Comes Out for Higher Interest Rates: “A Plus for Society’s Point of View and the Fed’s Point of View”

by Wolf Richter • Jun 6, 2021 • 291 Comments

“We want them to go back to” a normal interest rate environment.

AMC Insiders Dumped Huge Portions of their Shares after WTF Spike, AMC Sold Shares, and Wanda is Already Outa There

by Wolf Richter • Jun 5, 2021 • 141 Comments

But who’s buying? CEO Adam Aron is schmoozling and bamboozling the Reddit crowd.

The Weird Phenomenon of “Labor Shortages” as Millions of People Who Could Work Are Not Working

by Wolf Richter • Jun 4, 2021 • 427 Comments

A sign of how messed up the moving parts of the economy have become, amid massive excesses and distortions connected by malfunctioning gearing.

Global Steel Production: China Blows the Socks off the Rest of the World, US Production Plunges

by Wolf Richter • Jun 3, 2021 • 193 Comments

The annual steel report is out.

Stock Market Officially a Bad Joke: AMC Warns Buyers of its New Shares: Don’t Buy “Unless You Are Prepared” to Lose “All or Substantial Portion of Your Investment”

by Wolf Richter • Jun 3, 2021 • 156 Comments

A joke where everyone is making fun of everyone in grand & crazy pump-and-dump schemes. But I can’t blame AMC. I blame the Fed.

It Begins: The Fed Will Outright Sell its Corporate Bonds & ETFs

by Wolf Richter • Jun 2, 2021 • 93 Comments

Another market support gets pulled away and turned upside down.

Buyers’ Strike? Mortgage Applications Drop Deep into 2019 Range as People Looking for a Home to Live in Step Back from “Raging Mania”

by Wolf Richter • Jun 2, 2021 • 158 Comments

Investors may still be doing a lot of heavy breathing.

SoftBank-Funded Silicon Valley Unicorn Katerra, which was to “Transform” the Construction Industry, Collapses

by Wolf Richter • Jun 1, 2021 • 90 Comments

Thousands of workers laid off. $2.2 billion up in smoke. 2nd SoftBank unicorn to collapse this year before getting to the IPO or SPAC window, after Greensill, which it helped take down.

“Cash Has Been Trash for Years, But Soon it May Be the Only Haven for Investors”: Bill Gross is at it Again

by Wolf Richter • Jun 1, 2021 • 163 Comments

“Inflationary pressures pose increasing price risks to Treasuries & stocks” as the Fed will react.

It is Hard to Resist the Dopamine of Collective Euphoria in the Housing Market

by Kara Cox • Jun 1, 2021 • 126 Comments

Individual investor results may vary.

Modular Construction: “Not there yet”

by John McNellis • May 31, 2021 • 175 Comments

“There is only one way for a modular project to go right, and a million ways to go wrong.”

Inflation Bites Chunk out of Personal Income & Spending

by Wolf Richter • May 30, 2021 • 400 Comments

Paying even more to get even less. Exactly what American consumers need the most in these trying times.

Bank of England Chief Economist: Avoid Inflation Surge “Like the Plague”

by Nick Corbishley • May 29, 2021 • 81 Comments

“An upside surprise to inflation is among the greatest risks.”

Fed’s Favorite Lowball Inflation Gauge is Red-Hot, Not Seen in Decades, Even Without the “Base Effect”

by Wolf Richter • May 28, 2021 • 281 Comments

The majestic inflation overshoot has arrived.

Fed Drains $485 Billion in Liquidity from Market via Reverse Repos, Undoing 4 Months of QE, Even as QE Continues, Total Assets Near $8 Trillion

by Wolf Richter • May 27, 2021 • 221 Comments

It’s a crazy situation the Fed backed into as tsunami of liquidity goes haywire, banking system strains under $4 trillion in reserves, and General Treasury Account gets drawn down.

Car & Truck Sales Show: The Inflation Mindset Has Changed, Consumers Are Willing to Pay a Lot More, Generating not only Record Sales but also Record Gross Profits

by Wolf Richter • May 27, 2021 • 183 Comments

This change in the inflation mindset is likely not “temporary.”

Wolf Richter in Conversation with Saxo Bank’s Market Call

by Wolf Richter • May 27, 2021 • 21 Comments

The economy, financial markets, and inflation amid the distortions caused by fiscal and monetary responses to the pandemic.

How my Friend’s Small Hostel in Barcelona Survived

by Nick Corbishley • May 26, 2021 • 69 Comments

“It’s impossible to know how many of these shuttered hotels and hostel will reopen.”

“Just Shut Up and Buy”: But Hype-Stocks & Cryptos Crashed

by Wolf Richter • May 26, 2021 • 121 Comments

It works until it doesn’t. Now all eyes are on housing (transcript).

The Most Splendid Housing-Inflation Bubbles in America with WTF Spikes in Seattle & Los Angeles

by Wolf Richter • May 25, 2021 • 196 Comments

But condo prices in the San Francisco Bay Area fell year-over-year again, and in New York City have been flat for years.

China’s Capital Controls & Crackdown on Conglomerates, the US Shift to Working from Home, and San Francisco’s Historic Office Glut Leave Big Ulcer

by Wolf Richter • May 24, 2021 • 114 Comments

Trends converged on the mega-construction project Oceanwide Center in San Francisco.