End of “Disinflation” Honeymoon: CPI Accelerates YoY. Core Services CPI Accelerates MoM. Durable Goods Prices Normalize at Nosebleed Levels by Wolf Richter • Aug 10, 2023 • 180 Comments Core services inflation at 6.1% year-over-year; Core CPI at 4.7%. Three factors make it rough for CPI the rest of the year.
A Word about the Odious Ridiculous Massive Adjustments to Health Insurance CPI, which Now Collapsed to Jan 2019 Levels by Wolf Richter • Aug 10, 2023 • 133 Comments It turned Medical Services CPI negative, pushed down core services CPI, core CPI, and overall CPI. But it will swing the other way in October.
Mortgage Rates Jump to Holy-Moly 7.09%, FHA Rates to Highest in 20 Years, Pulling Rug Out from Under Home Sales in August by Wolf Richter • Aug 9, 2023 • 176 Comments Mortgage applications to purchase a home: -40% from 2022 and 2019, 3rd worst week since 1995, behind only two weeks in February.
The Collapse of the EV SPACs: Another One Goes Bankrupt, Others on the Verge by Wolf Richter • Aug 9, 2023 • 146 Comments The SPAC boom will surely go down in history as one of the biggest stock-market heists ever, made possible by Consensual Hallucination.
Our Drunken Sailors Still Not in Trouble with their Credit Cards by Wolf Richter • Aug 8, 2023 • 77 Comments Keeping an eye on them because some day enough of them will get in trouble to move the needle. But not yet.
Used-Vehicle Wholesale Prices Sagged to Where They’d Been 2 Years Ago, But Are Still High. Where Will They Go? Automakers’ Finance Companies Placed their Bets by Wolf Richter • Aug 8, 2023 • 90 Comments They have to set residual values for three-year leases. And it’s risk off.
Yellow Files for Bankruptcy and Liquidation. CEO Blames Teamsters in Stunning Detailed Announcement by Wolf Richter • Aug 7, 2023 • 178 Comments “All workers and employers should take note of our experience with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and worry.”
I’ll Just Crush the Stupid Stuff in the Social Media about Disability Claims. In Reality, Claims Dropped to 20-Year Low while People with a Disability Are Employed in Record Numbers by Wolf Richter • Aug 5, 2023 • 124 Comments This is a big benefit to the US economy on many levels.
Powell’s Nightmare: Wage Growth, after Signs of Losing Altitude, Re-Accelerates by Wolf Richter • Aug 4, 2023 • 216 Comments Inflation is just going to stick around for a while, it seems.
Fed Balance Sheet QT: -$91 Billion in July, -$759 Billion from Peak, Biggest Drop Ever, to $8.2 Trillion, Lowest since July 2021 by Wolf Richter • Aug 3, 2023 • 108 Comments The Fed has now shed 22.3% of the Treasury securities it bought during pandemic QE.
