Global Steel Production Update: China’s Property Crisis & Manufacturing Slowdown Trigger China’s Worst Ever 3-Year Drop of Steel Production, after Years of Blistering Growth by Wolf Richter • Jun 20, 2024 • 64 Comments US production of crude steel edged down further. Nucor Steel moved up to #15 globally. US Steel, #24, gets acquired by #4, Nippon Steel.
The Collapse of the EV SPACs: Fisker Joins the Bankruptcy Party, Others on the Verge by Wolf Richter • Jun 19, 2024 • 107 Comments Consensual Hallucination drove that SPAC boom during the free-money era.
Junta of Mega-Cap Stocks Rules. Rest of the Market? Russell 2000 Hits Jan 2021 Level, S&P 500 Equal Weight Hits Jan 2022 by Wolf Richter • Jun 15, 2024 • 132 Comments A market hooked on a handful of mega-cap stocks is a precarious place to be.
Rate-Cut Mania’s 20.7% Spike in French Stock Market Comes Home to Roost by Wolf Richter • Jun 14, 2024 • 54 Comments When stuff gets inflated like this, no one should be surprised when it gets deflated.
Eyepopping Factory Construction Boom in the US: Semiconductors, Auto Industry, and Everyone Else by Wolf Richter • Jun 3, 2024 • 103 Comments A massive corporate rethink is underway. Inflation in construction costs explains only a small portion of the spending boom.
Software Stocks Got Massacred, after Salesforce & UiPath Bloodbath. Bad Breath of AI? by Wolf Richter • May 30, 2024 • 66 Comments UiPath -85% from peak just three years after IPO amid CEO chaos. When consensual hallucination fades…
New-Vehicle Supply Turns to Glut for Many Brands. Automakers Roll out Incentives, but Not Nearly Enough by Wolf Richter • May 21, 2024 • 141 Comments Inventory gluts are resolved by lower prices that boost sales. But that part hasn’t started yet; the glut is still building.
As Rest of Retail Stagnates, Ecommerce is Hot. And what Walmart Said about this Phenomenon by Wolf Richter • May 17, 2024 • 105 Comments Walmart US online sales +22%. It credits “convenience” of ecommerce for its success in attracting higher income customers.
There’s a Boom in Distressed Debt Exchanges to Deal with Leveraged-Loan Defaults by Wolf Richter • May 13, 2024 • 33 Comments An alternative to a restructuring in bankruptcy court.
Junk-Bond Issuance Nearly Doubles YTD, amid Feverish Demand in La-la-Land and Ultra-Loose Financial Conditions by Wolf Richter • May 10, 2024 • 104 Comments Companies, seeing Higher-for-Longer, take advantage of it to lock in historically narrow spreads and still low yields.
