Social Security COLA for 2024 Will Be Meager 3.2%, Likely to Be Outrun by Inflation by Wolf Richter • Oct 12, 2023 • 147 Comments Cost-of-Living Adjustment for 2024 plunges from 2023 mega-COLA, which outran inflation by a wide margin. This one will fall behind inflation.
EV SPAC VinFast Collapses 92% in 31 Trading Days, $213 Billion in Fake Market Cap Evaporated in Hilarious Manner by Wolf Richter • Oct 10, 2023 • 135 Comments Obviously, this kind of idiocy should never happen in a healthy stock market. But it has happened a lot.
Our Experience with the Collapse of the Dollar’s Purchasing Power for Used Cars, Auto Insurance, Repair Costs, Rental Cars by Wolf Richter • Oct 9, 2023 • 260 Comments Or why auto insurance has gotten so ridiculously expensive — after used vehicles have gotten so ridiculously expensive.
My Take on What QT Has Done to Stocks, Bonds, Commercial Real Estate (Lots of Bloodletting) & What it’ll Do Going Forward by Wolf Richter • Oct 7, 2023 • 215 Comments Fundamentals boiled down to QE or QT since 2009. Now there’s lots of QT, globally, to battle the worst inflation in decades.
A Jobs Report You’d Expect from an Economy Plugging along Just Fine (What a Bummer?). Thing about Multiple Jobholders by Wolf Richter • Oct 6, 2023 • 208 Comments The number of jobs created was even upwardly revised, for a change.
Fed Balance Sheet QT: -$1.0 Trillion from Peak, to $7.96 Trillion, Lowest since June 2021. In September Alone -$146 billion by Wolf Richter • Oct 5, 2023 • 111 Comments Dual milestone: down $1 trillion & below $8 trillion. Fed shed 26% of Treasuries it had added during pandemic QE.
ECB Balance Sheet QT: -€1.77 Trillion from Peak, now down to €7.07 Trillion. Shed 43% of Pandemic QE Assets by Wolf Richter • Oct 5, 2023 • 29 Comments More QT and fewer rate hikes?
New Vehicle Sales +20% in Q3 YoY. Pent-Up Demand Comes Home to Roost. Our Drunken Sailors in No Mood for a Recession by Wolf Richter • Oct 4, 2023 • 143 Comments Average listing price rose 2.2% to $47,417. The strikes, if they drag on, could squeeze inventories, which would pressure prices again.
Despite the AI Hype, Office Markets in San Francisco & Silicon Valley Get Even Worse by Wolf Richter • Oct 4, 2023 • 71 Comments Availability rate in Q3 spiked to 36% in San Francisco. Sublease space nearly doubled in Silicon Valley. Leasing activity collapsed. More landlords default.
20-Year Treasury Yield Spikes to 5.13%. Yield Curve Gets Ready to Uninvert. Juicy Yields Tempt, but Bloodbath May Not Be Over by Wolf Richter • Oct 3, 2023 • 133 Comments “Fed hikes till something breaks.” But honey, the biggest thing has already broken: price stability. And the Fed is trying to fix it.
