The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America, January Update by Wolf Richter • Jan 28, 2020 • 82 Comments Prices in New York City condo market, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle down to early 2018 levels. Chicago nearly flat from year ago. Other markets rise. Phoenix, Tampa, Charlotte surge.
Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers to Surveil its Own Customers by Electronic Frontier Foundation • Jan 28, 2020 • 97 Comments Internet of Things at Home: Ring sends the surveillance data of its own customers to third parties, including Facebook.
Startup Unicorn Casper Sets IPO Price Range to Dish Out 36% Loss to Prior Investors by Wolf Richter • Jan 27, 2020 • 96 Comments Another money-losing, cash-burning, over-hyped unicorn in a ho-hum low-tech business (bedding retailer) tries to make it out the IPO window.
THE WOLF STREET REPORT: What’s Behind the Screwed-Up Student Loan Fiasco? by Wolf Richter • Jan 26, 2020 • 225 Comments Student enrollment has dropped 11% since 2011 while student-loan balances have surged 74%. Why?
Gift Turns into Kafkaesque Ordeal: How My Two WOLF STREET Beer Mugs “Were Disappeared” in Spanish Customs by Nick Corbishley • Jan 25, 2020 • 66 Comments Many people report similar nightmares trying and failing to get their packages out of Spanish customs.
Tesla’s Global Deliveries Compared to the Top 10: Volkswagen, Toyota, GM, Ford, Honda, FCA, Mercedes… Here’s the Chart by Wolf Richter • Jan 24, 2020 • 218 Comments Tesla’s Stock Makes it the Second Most Valuable Automaker in the World. But How About its Size?
Australian Construction Giant CIMIC Writes Off Disastrous Arabian Adventure, After Being Bludgeoned over Opaque Debts by Nick Corbishley • Jan 24, 2020 • 27 Comments Shares plunged 20% on the spot, and are down 44% in nine months.
Fed’s Repos Drop to Oct Level, T-Bills Surge, But MBS Fall, and Total Assets Decline Further by Wolf Richter • Jan 23, 2020 • 83 Comments Those counting on the Fed’s endless “Not-QE” or whatever to inflate the market might be disappointed.
Union Pacific Cut 17% of its Workers, Will Cut 8% in 2020. Revenue Fell 9.5%, Income 10%. Bought Back $5.8 Bn in Shares. Stock Hits New High by Wolf Richter • Jan 23, 2020 • 100 Comments Its debt surged to fund the share buybacks. And truckers ate its lunch. But don’t tell any of this to the “market.”
The Great American Shale Oil & Gas Bust: Fracking Gushes Bankruptcies, Defaulted Debt, and Worthless Shares by Wolf Richter • Jan 22, 2020 • 114 Comments Texas at the epicenter. We’re witnessing the destruction of money that loosey-goosey monetary policies encouraged.
