The ECB Steps Away from Bond Market Entirely, Speeds Up Bond QT even as it Cut Rates by Wolf Richter • Dec 13, 2024 • 23 Comments It already reduced its balance sheet by €2.48 trillion and completed its loan QT to near-zero.
The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America, November Update: Prices Drop in All 33 Big Metros, Most in Austin, Tampa, Dallas, San Antonio by Wolf Richter • Dec 12, 2024 • 136 Comments 19 Metros below 2022 peaks: Austin -22%, San Francisco -10%, Phoenix -9%, San Antonio -8%, Denver -7%, Salt Lake City -6%, Sacramento -6%, Portland -6%, Dallas -6%, Seattle -5%, Honolulu -5%…
PPI, “Core” PPI, “Core Services” PPI Inflation Much Hotter after Whopper Up-Revisions Going Back Months by Wolf Richter • Dec 12, 2024 • 80 Comments The problem is in services, which account for 67% of PPI. But goods prices are re-accelerating too. The whole inflation scenario has changed.
Beneath the Skin of CPI Inflation: CPI & “Core” CPI Accelerate Further Month-to-Month, 3-Month Averages Heat Up for 4th Month. Year-over-Year, CPI Accelerates for 2nd Month by Wolf Richter • Dec 11, 2024 • 64 Comments On re-spiking motor vehicle prices, jumping food & gasoline prices. But housing inflation backs off.
GM Shuts Down its Misbegotten Robotaxi Money-Pit after Acquiring Cruise in 2016 and then Blowing $10 Billion on It by Wolf Richter • Dec 10, 2024 • 95 Comments Cruise was supposed to generate $50 billion in revenues by 2030, according to GM’s former hype, which Wall Street ate up.
Credit-Market Mania Crushed “Yield Spreads” & Risk Premiums, but Corporate & CRE Borrowing Costs Are Still Much Higher by Wolf Richter • Dec 9, 2024 • 45 Comments Loosey-goosey financial conditions don’t mean low borrowing costs. They just mean narrow yield spreads.
Used-Vehicle Prices Turn into Inflation Headwind, after Historic 2-Year Plunge Helped Power the “Deceleration” of Core CPI by Wolf Richter • Dec 7, 2024 • 47 Comments Prices are rising again, amid tight supply, sharply reduced flow through the used-vehicle pipeline, and strong demand.
Labor Market Doing Fine. The Fed Can be “Careful” with Rate Cuts. Maybe Time for Some Wait-and-See? by Wolf Richter • Dec 6, 2024 • 73 Comments Payrolls & wages jump, prior 2 months revised higher, solid bounce-back from Hurricanes and Boeing strike. 3-month average payrolls +173,000!
Fed Balance Sheet QT: -$98 Billion in November, -$2.07 Trillion from Peak, to $6.90 Trillion, Lowest since May 2020 by Wolf Richter • Dec 5, 2024 • 71 Comments Quantitative Tightening has shed 43% of the assets the Fed had added during pandemic QE. Bank-panic facility BTFP is vanishing.
Everybody Should Get Used to these Mortgage Rates, Says Fannie Mae CEO: Mortgage Rates, 10-Year Treasury Yields, QT, and Spreads by Wolf Richter • Dec 5, 2024 • 62 Comments “Current mortgage rates and Fannie Mae’s forecast for 2025 rates are well in line with rates over the past several decades.”
