THE WOLF STREET REPORT: Dollar’s Purchasing Power Gets Zapped. It’s Permanent

by Wolf Richter • Aug 1, 2021 • 112 Comments

This combo of massive QE, repressed interest rates, huge government stimulus with borrowed money, and raging inflation is new in recent history.

My Thoughts on Selling a Successful Family Business: McNellis

by John McNellis • Jul 31, 2021 • 79 Comments

Rushing down a mountain can kill you, rushing to sell a business can cost you a fortune.

People Made Heroic Efforts to Spend. Inflation Ate Their Lunch

by Wolf Richter • Jul 30, 2021 • 246 Comments

The big shift from durable goods to services is underway.

Fed’s Lowest Lowball Inflation Measure “Core PCE” Spikes Further. Highest 3-Month Rate since 1982

by Wolf Richter • Jul 30, 2021 • 146 Comments

“Way above target”: Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Steamy Rent Inflation in Single-Family Suburban Houses: Invitation Homes Jacks Up Rents Big Time on its 80,000 Houses

by Wolf Richter • Jul 30, 2021 • 207 Comments

It isn’t buying whole neighborhoods; it’s buying whole new subdivisions of built-to-rent houses.

Socked by 6.4% Inflation, Record Trade Deficit, Inventory Shortages, and Drop in Government Spending, “Real” GDP Jumps Disappointingly

by Wolf Richter • Jul 29, 2021 • 175 Comments

Inflation ate my homework: All this stimulus, so little to show for.

My Thoughts on the Fed’s Back-to-the-Future “Standing Repo Facilities” Announced Today

by Wolf Richter • Jul 28, 2021 • 164 Comments

Repos are different from QE; they’re in-and-out transactions that don’t endlessly pile up, unlike QE.

The Zoo Has Gone Nuts: PayPal Will Give Me $25 if I Buy Cryptos

by Wolf Richter • Jul 28, 2021 • 129 Comments

Ah, hefty “fees” & fat “spreads.” But wasn’t the promise of bitcoin to buy stuff without using fiat currency payment systems such as PayPal?

The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America: July Update, Holy Moly

by Wolf Richter • Jul 27, 2021 • 265 Comments

Raging mania house-price inflation.

No, Rents Are Not Suddenly Spiking in San Francisco: They Fell Again in July and Are Down 27% since June 2019

by Wolf Richter • Jul 27, 2021 • 84 Comments

The rental market is in turmoil after jobs and people left, and price discovery has set in. Falling rents are a market-based solution to the “Housing Crisis.”

US Home Purchases by Foreigners Plunged for 4th Year, to Decade Low. But They Bought More Expensive Homes than Americans

by Wolf Richter • Jul 26, 2021 • 133 Comments

Purchases by buyers from China collapsed by 84% since the peak in 2017.

Buyers’ Strike: Sales of New Houses Plunge 32% in 5 Months, Unsold Inventory Highest since 2008, Prices Drop, Construction Costs Spike by Most since 1980

by Wolf Richter • Jul 26, 2021 • 229 Comments

Bottom falls out at lower end. Fed-enriched high-end buyers doing fine.

People Sure Are Driving a Lot, Gasoline Consumption Hits Record, But Flying & Mass Transit Lag Way Behind

by Wolf Richter • Jul 25, 2021 • 154 Comments

The miracles of the new economy.

Bond Market Has Been Clueless about Inflation for Decades, Now More so Than Ever. The Meme the Drop in Yields = End of Inflation is a Fantasy

by Wolf Richter • Jul 24, 2021 • 226 Comments

Even before QE, the 10-year yield lagged years behind CPI, up and down. And now, the Fed manipulates the market with QE.

While Fed Blows Off Inflation, Hawkish Bank of Russia Shocks & Awes with Rate Hikes, Sees “Persistent” & “Prolonged” Inflation

by Wolf Richter • Jul 23, 2021 • 197 Comments

But the US and Russia have similar red-hot inflation rates.

After Slashing 33% of Workers in 6 Years, Railroads Complain about Labor Shortages, amid Uproar over Slow Shipments

by Wolf Richter • Jul 22, 2021 • 237 Comments

“No way did I realize how difficult it was going to be to try and get people to come to work these days”: CEO of CSX.

Home Sellers Are Coming Out of the Woodwork: New Listings, Unsold Inventories & Supply Rise

by Wolf Richter • Jul 22, 2021 • 179 Comments

Sales edge up, after sagging for months, amid Crazy Spiking Prices.

Creditors Foreclose on Another Mall of Simon Property Group, Face Massive Loss

by Wolf Richter • Jul 21, 2021 • 147 Comments

As largest mall landlord in the US sheds its malls, CMBS holders, such as bond funds and pension funds, take the losses.

“No Resistance” to Price Increases

by Wolf Richter • Jul 20, 2021 • 304 Comments

The Restaurant Industry Reacts to a Messed-Up Economy Plagued by Shortages & Transportation Snags.

The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in Canada: Why the Bank of Canada is Cutting QE

by Wolf Richter • Jul 20, 2021 • 127 Comments

And the utter craziness has begun to “decelerate” in some markets.

Normally Astute American Car Buyers Just Pay Whatever: AutoNation, Largest Auto Dealer in the US

by Wolf Richter • Jul 19, 2021 • 180 Comments

The explosion of per-vehicle gross profit shows why buying a car or truck now is nuts. But lots of people did though they didn’t need to: inflationary.

Plunge of Retail Inventories, Collapse of New & Used Vehicle Inventories: The Shortages Depicted in Charts

by Wolf Richter • Jul 18, 2021 • 146 Comments

Inventories at retailers document this mess.

Too Much Money Chasing Too Few Goods and Services

by Bill Bergman • Jul 17, 2021 • 188 Comments

Inflation can be considered a tax, an especially regressive one, falling harder on those with lower income and/or assets.

Americans Pay More to Get Less: Retail Sales Outrun by Inflation

by Wolf Richter • Jul 16, 2021 • 219 Comments

Welcome to Fed’s New World of Inflation.

Did People Use their Stimulus to Start a Business? The Spike in New Businesses, one of the Mindblowers of the Pandemic

by Wolf Richter • Jul 15, 2021 • 116 Comments

Now it’s confirmed, it wasn’t for PPP-loan fraud.

This “Temporary” Inflation Is Turning into an Inflation Spiral

by Wolf Richter • Jul 15, 2021 • 262 Comments

Get Used to Higher Inflation. My Thoughts on the Biggest Mess I’ve Seen in Decades (transcript).

Bank of Canada Cuts Bond Purchases for 3rd Time, Bank of New Zealand Stops QE Cold-Turkey, Citing Housing Bubble in “Least Regrets Policy,” Following a Slew of other Central Banks

by Wolf Richter • Jul 14, 2021 • 150 Comments

Why is the Fed so far behind the curve? Other central banks are now making room for “persistent” inflation.

And Now the WTF Spike in Transportation Costs

by Wolf Richter • Jul 14, 2021 • 67 Comments

They’re getting passed on and feed into the inflation scenario.

While the Fed Fiddles, the Dollar Burns: Dollar’s Purchasing Power Plunged at Fastest Pace since 1982

by Wolf Richter • Jul 13, 2021 • 330 Comments

Defying economists’ expectations for sixth month in a row, inflation heats up instead of easing off. And it’s a lot worse than it seems.

Consumers Expect Red-Hot Inflation to Crush Their Earnings: Fed’s Survey

by Wolf Richter • Jul 12, 2021 • 189 Comments

And the folks who experienced the high inflation of the 1970s and early 1980s as adults expect inflation to hit 5.7% in one year.