It Sucks Being a Retailer in January and February. But Do Retail Sales Show Consumers Cut Back? by Wolf Richter • Feb 15, 2024 • 72 Comments A good time to look at seasonality and inflation/deflation in retail sales, especially as prices of goods have dropped.
Miles Driven Eke Out Record after Covid-Plunge: People Drive Less, but there Are More People by Wolf Richter • Feb 9, 2024 • 62 Comments But mass transit is still singing the remote-work blues. RTO not now?
Our Drunken Sailors’ Credit Card Balances, Burden, Delinquencies, and Available Credit by Wolf Richter • Feb 9, 2024 • 113 Comments Credit cards are the dominant payment method, from reimbursed business travel to ecommerce and bar tabs. And some people use them to borrow.
Here Come the HELOCs: Mortgage Balances, Delinquencies, and Foreclosures by Wolf Richter • Feb 7, 2024 • 102 Comments When will it get messy for our Drunken Sailors? Not now.
Auto Loan Balances, Subprime, Delinquencies, and Income: Who Are those Drunken Sailors? by Wolf Richter • Feb 6, 2024 • 98 Comments Subprime doesn’t mean “low income.” It means “bad credit” – and some is high income. And subprime loans are coming home to roost.
The Year of the Recession that Didn’t Come: Our Drunken Sailors Partied & Spent, GDP Jumped by Wolf Richter • Jan 25, 2024 • 100 Comments All major categories of spending and investment pulled in the same direction.
Our Drunken Sailors Started the Holiday Binge, Fueled by Disposable Income that Outran Inflation by a Wide Margin by Wolf Richter • Dec 22, 2023 • 174 Comments Consumers got a break on prices of durable goods, and so they tripled down?
Oh Deary, No, Our Drunken Sailors Did Not Suddenly Sober Up, on the Contrary by Wolf Richter • Dec 1, 2023 • 161 Comments They Out-Spent and Out-Earned inflation without breaking a sweat, and saved some too.
Money Market Funds, Large CDs, Small CDs All Surged: Americans Figured it Out by Wolf Richter • Nov 24, 2023 • 144 Comments Banks, forced by competition from money market funds, got the memo.
Credit Cards, the Biggest Payment Method: Balances, Burden, Delinquencies, Available Credit: How Are our Drunken Sailors Holding Up? by Wolf Richter • Nov 9, 2023 • 132 Comments Only 2% of credit card users are delinquent, according to new data from the New York Fed; 98% are current.
