Wolf Richter

Bay Area Home Sales Plunge To 2008 Levels, Prices Soar

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It starts here: evictions in San Francisco hit the highest level since 2001, when the dotcom bubble was disintegrating. Everything these days gets benchmarked against the last bubbles: the dotcom bubble that blew up in 2000, the housing bubble that blew up in 2007.

German Exporters Fire Warning Shot About Russia “Sanction-Spiral,” Banks At Risk

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It took a while. But it had to come, the public warning shot – after some ferocious lobbying behind closed doors. No one in Germany is allowed to get in the way of the sacrosanct exporters. The German economy, to the chagrin of neighboring countries, is based on them.

Coffee – The Craziest Chart Of The Year Already

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I’m a coffee lover, and this is getting personal: our latte, espresso, or just plain good coffee is going to bite fiercely into our already mauled pocket book. In one crazy chart.

What Caused The Glorious Jump In Household Wealth (In One Insanely Good Chart) And Who Will Blow It Up Again?

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The stock market has soared for five years, risks have ballooned, home prices have jumped. Gains built on the quicksand of endless liquidity and a lackluster economy. “Irrational exuberance” is back in the Fed’s vocabulary. As the Fed’s Fisher said, it may end “in tears.”

They Actually Don’t Have A Clue About Employment And Jobs, Not In California

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California is at it again. It released its employment and jobs reports today, in parallel with the national reports released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What a doozie. Is the California boom already over?

Loophole Makes Hilarious Mockery Of US Crude Oil Export Ban

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Washington is tangled up in spirited bouts of mudwrestling over exporting US crude oil, prohibited since the Arab oil embargo. Big Oil, environmentalists, consumer groups, lobbyists, lawmakers – they’re all at it. Yet, exports of “petroleum products” are soaring.

Aid for the Ukraine “Will Be Stolen” – Former Ukrainian Minister of Economy

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The US offered the Ukraine $1 billion in aid, the EU €11 billion. The IMF is working on its aid package. All to shift losses from lenders, bondholders, hedge funds… to taxpayers. But it won’t rescue the economy. Because it’s a cesspool of corruption and plundering oligarchs.

Obama’s Growth Forecast Bullish, Wall Street Exuberant, Corporate Insiders Freak-Out Bearish

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Despite breath-taking hype on Wall Street and President Obama’s budget that assumed economic growth of a glorious 3.1%, corporate executives and directors are quietly dumping their shares in bouts of extreme bearishness, just like they did before the last crash.

“Targeted” Sanctions, A Triumph For Russian Isolationists

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Regarding Russia’s Ukrainian campaign, Speaker of the House Boehner did what President Obama had done: posturing. “It’s time to stand up to Putin,” he said. NATO met. The UN Security Council met. EU Foreign Ministers met. Sanctions, that’s the common denominator.

NASDAQ 10,000 – Or Something

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“Paranormal liquidity stimulus” leads to “paranormal activity” to deliver that “parabolic overshoot” in asset prices. And there is no bubble in sight, not even in the Nasdaq Biotech index, which is up a cool 375%. Money is once again growing on trees.