Intel & TSMC on Chip Shortage: After Blowing $84 Billion on Share Buybacks since 2011 and Now Woefully Behind, Intel Clamors for $50 Billion in Subsidies for US Chip Industry by Wolf Richter • May 3, 2021 • 292 Comments “We will not be anywhere near as focused on buybacks going forward as we have in the past”: Intel’s new CEO.
Haunting Photos of San Francisco During Lockdown by Wolf Richter • May 1, 2021 • 155 Comments Dark humor, street art, gritty beauty, and misery in an ugly time.
Free-Money Stimmies Blow Out Consumer Income & Spending on Goods for a Glorious WTF Chart of the Year by Wolf Richter • Apr 30, 2021 • 305 Comments This is just freaking nuts. It explains the record trade deficits, bottlenecks, shortages, and inflation pressures, among other distortions.
It’s Not Over: Rents in San Francisco Down 30%, in Silicon Valley Down 19%, both at Multi-Year Lows. But Inland Rents Spike by Wolf Richter • Apr 29, 2021 • 54 Comments The US rental market has been thrown into turmoil. But in no major city have rents plunged from so high by so much so fast as in San Francisco.
Inflation Jumped by 3.8% in Q1, “Real GDP” Rose 1.6%, Dragged Down by Record Trade Deficit and Drop in Inventories by Wolf Richter • Apr 29, 2021 • 132 Comments Even the Fed’s repressed inflation measure without food and energy rose 2.3% annual rate.
It’s a Perfect Time to Sell a Home (to FOMO-Driven Buyers) by Wolf Richter • Apr 29, 2021 • 161 Comments The winner in these crazy bidding wars isn’t the buyer. It’s the seller. For buyers, it’s a Perfect Time to make a Terrible Deal (transcript).
Semiconductor Shortage Bites: Ford Cuts Q2 Production by 50% by Wolf Richter • Apr 28, 2021 • 114 Comments Industry-wide issue “may not be fully resolved until 2022”
Imports, Trade Deficit in Goods Explode to Worst Ever, Powered by Stimmies and Decades of Rampant Offshoring by Wolf Richter • Apr 28, 2021 • 140 Comments Imports of consumer goods spiked by 38%. Imports are not a sign of economic strength, but are a drag on GDP.
The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America: “House-Price Inflation” out the Wazoo, Ignored by CPI. April Update by Wolf Richter • Apr 27, 2021 • 237 Comments Only exception: San Francisco Bay Area condo prices, down from year ago.
Forget 2% Inflation. With Margins Forcefully Squeezed, Big Companies Raise Prices, Point at Massive Inflation Overshoot by Wolf Richter • Apr 26, 2021 • 332 Comments Smaller companies too: Boots-on-the-ground view of surging costs in the roofing manufacturing industry. The Fed will brush it off as “temporary,” but the inflationary mindset has set in.
