Our Drunken Sailors Are Still at it, Splurging Online, Buying Cars, Eating Out by Wolf Richter • Jul 18, 2023 • 146 Comments But the 26% plunge in gasoline prices hit gas stations. The pandemic home-remodeling & furnishing boom is over. Ecommerce keeps killing department stores.
I Love how Tesla Wreaks Havoc: Ford Slashes Prices of Electric Pickup Trucks, after 3 Big-Fat Price Hikes. Let the Price Cutting Continue by Wolf Richter • Jul 17, 2023 • 170 Comments Americans got battered for years by huge price hikes, especially on trucks, amid oligopolistic pricing behavior by legacy automakers.
US Dollar’s Status as Global Reserve Currency on Slow Long-Term Decline, but Not Going Down in a Straight Line by Wolf Richter • Jul 15, 2023 • 222 Comments An important thing to keep our eyes on these days.
Honey, the Dollar’s Collapsing Again: USD against Yen, Euro, Peso, Other Currencies amid Inflation, Rate Hikes, and QT (or Lack Thereof) by Wolf Richter • Jul 14, 2023 • 164 Comments In other words, after a spike, the dollar dropped back to the higher end of the normal 20-year range. But the yen is a sloppy mess.
The Fed’s Liabilities: QT Pushed Down Reserves & RRPs by $865 Billion. TGA Gets Refilled. Currency in Circulation Hits Record by Wolf Richter • Jul 14, 2023 • 179 Comments The flow of cash under QT and government deficits.
Companies Now Hiring Faster than Laying Off: A Favorite Recession Indicator Has Now Backtracked for 3 Months by Wolf Richter • Jul 13, 2023 • 123 Comments But the layoff announcements in the media scared workers into surrendering some of their newly found power.
Core Services CPI Cools to Still Red-Hot 6.2%, Core CPI to 4.8%. Plunge in Energy Prices Pulls Down Overall CPI to 3.0%. Food Prices Stabilize at Very High Levels by Wolf Richter • Jul 12, 2023 • 224 Comments We already know the factors that will make this much tougher going forward.
Third Wave of Hotel CRE Defaults Has Started, Triggered by CMBS Maturities and Variable-Rate Mortgages by Wolf Richter • Jul 11, 2023 • 121 Comments CMBS holders are on the hook, not banks. Investors in hotel REITs have gotten totally crushed.
End of Easy Money: Financial Conditions Loosen Again for Junk-Rated Companies. But Some that Long Teetered Finally Go Over the Bankruptcy Cliff by Wolf Richter • Jul 10, 2023 • 119 Comments Tightening is a slow process, and there is still a flood of excess liquidity chasing after yield.
Treasury Market Comes Out of Denial, Grapples with “Higher-for-Longer,” QT, Flood of New Issuance. Long-Term Yields Jump by Wolf Richter • Jul 8, 2023 • 212 Comments Denial works great until it doesn’t.
