Congrats, America 🥂We Made it! Government Debt Spikes past $33 Trillion: +$1.6 Trillion since Debt Ceiling, +$2.2 Trillion from Year Ago by Wolf Richter • Sep 18, 2023 • 243 Comments Trillions whooshing by so fast they’re hard to see.
Fed’s Cumulative Operating Losses Exceed $100 Billion. Rate of Weekly Losses Begins to Slow as QT Drains RRPs and Reserves by Wolf Richter • Sep 18, 2023 • 41 Comments Not that the losses matter to the Fed, but they matter to the Budget Deficit.
Fed’s Balance Sheet Liabilities: RRPs Plunge, Reserves Rise after Bank Panic, Currency in Circulation Dips after Pandemic Spike, TGA Gets Refilled by Wolf Richter • Sep 16, 2023 • 116 Comments QT’s impact on the Fed’s liabilities, and massive movements between them.
The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in Canada: Price Drops Spread amid Slowing Sales, Rising Supply, Bank of Canada Tightening by Wolf Richter • Sep 15, 2023 • 127 Comments The Home Price Benchmark Index is down 13% from peak in March 2022. The Canadian housing market is in a category of its own, in terms of craziness.
Our Drunken Sailors Splurged at Stores & Auto Dealers amid Lower Prices of Durable Goods, Partied at Eating & Drinking Places, and Paid an Arm and a Leg at Gas Stations by Wolf Richter • Sep 14, 2023 • 166 Comments They spent a record amount more at bars & restaurants than at food & beverage stores, which tells us something about our drunken sailors.
The Acceleration of Inflation in the Second Half Has Begun, “Disinflation” Honeymoon Terminated by Wolf Richter • Sep 13, 2023 • 329 Comments Month-to-month CPI spikes, core CPI and core services CPI accelerate, despite ongoing massive health insurance adjustment.
Tesla Price Cuts, Followed by other Automakers, Plus Surging Incentives, Hit Average Transaction Prices, after Toxic Spike by Wolf Richter • Sep 12, 2023 • 145 Comments Detroit automakers hugely overstocked, ready for a strike.
Investment-Grade Corporate Giants Suddenly Sell Huge Amounts of Debt to Front-Run even Higher Long-Term Yields by Wolf Richter • Sep 11, 2023 • 175 Comments Further pressuring long-term Treasury yields, amid fears of bad inflation “surprises.” Share buybacks a lot more expensive, but no problem either.
Mortgage-Rate Buydowns by Homebuilders Are Now All the Rage to Prop Up Sales, Lowering Effective House Prices in a Big Way, but Don’t Get Picked Up by House Price Data by Wolf Richter • Sep 10, 2023 • 279 Comments Appraisers have not yet caught on to it either.
“Unrealized Losses” on Securities Held by Banks, Oh Dearie, the Whole Schmear: +8%, to $558 Billion by Wolf Richter • Sep 8, 2023 • 257 Comments How do you lose 47% on 30-year Treasuries? Buy at auction in Aug 2020. Or carry them at purchase price and hide the “unrealized loss” in the footnotes.
