Did the $5-Billion Acquisition of Homebuilder MDC Holdings by Japan’s Sekisui House Mark the Top for Homebuilder Stocks after the Rate-Cut-Mania Rally? by Wolf Richter • Jan 24, 2024 • 29 Comments With uncanny precision?
D.R. Horton Sheds Some Light on the Massive Costs of Mortgage Rate Buydowns as a Hedge Went Awry. Stock Tanks by Wolf Richter • Jan 24, 2024 • 86 Comments The plunge in mortgage rates in Nov and Dec blew up the hedge for the rate buydowns: surprise cost on top of the regular costs of buydowns.
Another Online Used-Car Dealer Bites the Dust: Vroom, 3.5 Years after Red-Hot IPO, Shuts Down as Ally Suspends Credit Line by Wolf Richter • Jan 23, 2024 • 66 Comments The SPACs Shift Technologies and Carlotz are already dead. Carvana is still out there, after its distressed debt exchange.
US Movie Ticket Sales -46% in 2023 from 21 Years Ago: AMC and the Movie Theater Meltdown by Wolf Richter • Jan 22, 2024 • 135 Comments Americans have changed how they watch movies. They watch more than ever, but at home.
Status of the Housing Bust in San Francisco (Lowest Price for any December since 2017 & 2019), Silicon Valley & the Bay Area by Wolf Richter • Jan 21, 2024 • 102 Comments In 19 months, prices in San Francisco dropped nearly as much as in the first 19 months of Housing Bust 1. Bay Area is well behind. We’re keeping score.
When Consensual Hallucination Fades: iRobot Shares -91% from Peak Meme-Stock Mania by Wolf Richter • Jan 20, 2024 • 68 Comments SEC, did you look at the story 2 months ago that Amazon “is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval,” which caused iRobot to spike 39%?
Amid Collapsed Demand for Existing Homes, Prices Drop Further, Supply Highest for any December since 2018, New Listings Come out of the Woodwork by Wolf Richter • Jan 19, 2024 • 211 Comments Housing market is frozen, people have gone on buyers’ strike, sellers are hoping that this too shall pass.
Fed’s Balance Sheet QT, Liabilities: RRPs -$1.78 trillion from Peak, to $590 Billion, but Reserves Rise to $3.6 Trillion as Liquidity Drains and Shifts by Wolf Richter • Jan 19, 2024 • 106 Comments RRPs heading to their normal level of zero. And it’s time to talk about the revived Standing Repo Facility.
Residential Construction in 2023: Multifamily Starts Fall from 38-Year High, Single-Family Fall for 2nd Year, Both Still Higher than pre-Covid by Wolf Richter • Jan 18, 2024 • 29 Comments Higher interest rates bit, but builders adjusted to them.
Our Drunken Sailors Push Back Against Rate-Cut Mania by Wolf Richter • Jan 17, 2024 • 229 Comments Armed with income increases that outran inflation by a wide margin in 2023, they continue to splurge, no matter what.
