Inflation Re-accelerates in Japan, Core CPI Spikes to 41-Year High, even as Energy Plunges. BOJ’s Ueda Vows to Let her Rip by Wolf Richter • May 19, 2023 • 95 Comments Bank of Japan clings to negative interest rate policy and yield curve control as inflation spreads across the economy.
Home Sales Plunge, Supply Rises, Prices Drop Year-over-Year Most since 2012. Even Investors Pull Back by Wolf Richter • May 18, 2023 • 279 Comments Even All-Cash sales plunge 22% as investors don’t feel like overpaying either. The 2023 version of spring selling season is here.
THANK YOU for Your Wonderful Support of WOLF STREET!! If You Missed the Fun Last Week, a Reminder: Please Donate by Wolf Richter • May 17, 2023 • 19 Comments Your donations have been crucial in helping Wolf Street thrive as an open no-paywall site that isn’t bogged down in ads.
Slowdown in Residential Construction Centers on Single-Family Houses. Multifamily Flattens at Highest Level Since 1986 by Wolf Richter • May 17, 2023 • 86 Comments Single-family construction still dominates, but its share of residential construction falls to the lowest in decades.
I’m Surprised How Well Retail Sales Held Up despite Price Drops of Many Goods as Spending & Inflation Shifted to Services by Wolf Richter • May 16, 2023 • 81 Comments Dropping prices cause dollar-sales to drop even if unit sales rise. Home Depot today blamed part of its revenue decline on lower prices.
Household Debt as % of Disposable Income Fell to Good-Times Lows, on Much Higher Incomes Despite the OMG Headlines by Wolf Richter • May 16, 2023 • 104 Comments New delinquencies way below the pre-pandemic lows. Bankruptcies at record lows. The OMG stuff in the media about household debt is funny.
Households Far from “Tapped Out”: Credit Card Balances, Burden, Available Credit, Delinquencies & Collections by Wolf Richter • May 15, 2023 • 130 Comments Credit cards are a huge payment method but not a big borrowing method.
Trucking Skids Down Other Side of Pandemic Boom. Freight Rates, Per-Mile Rates, Diesel Partially Unwind their Spikes by Wolf Richter • May 15, 2023 • 40 Comments But freight rates only unwound one-third of Pandemic Spike.
Despite Fed Tightening and Bank Collapses, It’s Still an Astoundingly Loose Financial Situation in La-La-Land by Wolf Richter • May 13, 2023 • 207 Comments After years of money printing and pandemic stimulus, it’s hard to wring all this liquidity out of the financial system?
Fast QT, Fewer Rate Hikes? Bank of Canada Has Shed Nearly Half of Pandemic QE Assets. And QT Continues Despite “Pause” in Rate Hikes by Wolf Richter • May 12, 2023 • 124 Comments It unwound 46% of all assets it had added during the pandemic. Far more aggressive QT than the Fed’s.
